The economy is no more than a convenient way of thinking about all the commercial transactions that take place in the national space in the course of a day or a month or a year. The varying nature of these transactions, and the relationship between them, are mind-bendingly complex, and the economic theories we offer in explanation are pitifully oversimplistic by comparison.
Good economics consists of essaying a theory that seems to fit the circumstance under investigation, observing the outcome, making adjustments, and repeating. It is a process that of necessity involves the people who are doing the transactions that produce the observed result. If they are mystified about what you’re doing and why, chances are you will not get the expected result.