In academia most economists practice technical crafts. But the crafts are mostly irrelevant to policy issues and contribute little to society. Competing suppliers prosper by best serving demanders. In academia, however, the demand for academic product comes from journal editors, referees, and university departments. The demand is the expression of other suppliers .
Academic economists tend to favor peers whose crafts exalt their own handiwork.
In the social sciences and humanities, demand and supply are highly interlocking, circular, and self-legitimating. And the club subsists on tax and tuition dollars. The grounds for faith in an invisible-hand are rather slight. Society would gain a great deal if economists became more relevant. Most economists are wiser about economic policy than the average voter.