Broadly agree, but I don't entirely blame the economists, the politicians need justifications for what they do, and appealing to economics is a great one. Most

Broadly agree, but I don't entirely blame the economists, the politicians need justifications for what they do, and appealing to economics is a great one. Most political movements that have been successful have had some economic backup (eg Friedman and the libertarian right in the 1980s). In practise much of policy is just trying to change stuff using financial incentives, which in many cases has unintended consequences or is too complex.