Boy, Frank-- I disagree.
Economics as a "discipline" is (and should be) a servant of politics--yes--since economists in general make lousy policy- too narrow a point of view, too lost in pandering. But from the perspective of the voter (who, after all, is the central figure here), economics and it's real-life consequences are fundamental, and merge with--are the life blood of-- politics. Most Americans have no dough in shares, view Wall Street as fundamentally "broken" anyhow, and would happily attend a CEO roast, if the main dish was one of those guys who make 2,000 times what a line worker makes, and just ran the cfompany intocv the ground---or moved it to Singapore.
It's only the Media who dare not speak ill of Wall Street. Capitalism searches out the darkest corners of human potential, and mainlines them.