An example from all of history: (This is only semi-serious, but felt like a good thought experiment).
> Oligarch to politician - "Make this economic change." > Politician to team - "Give me post-facto justification for this change I am making." aka "Spin this" > Team - Applies economics to numbers > Team to politician - "Here you go." > Politician to people - "Economics does not lie." > Vaunted economics publications - "Sold. And thanks for the like." > Economic failure > Future politician - "Well, we just didn't know then what we know now." > Historian of the future - "Their economic calculations lacked the full set of economic forces and incentives. The economists of the time were in effect hand-waving because they ignored a fundamental economic force--the oligarch. Given the size of the oversight, I'd say they were complicit."
Thoughts: --Economic policy sold without disclosure (or even acknowledgement) of these massive forces is knowingly flawed, and a willing lie to handle people. --Economic theory is rooted in psychology. When an economic decision is spun to cover hidden motives, the psychological motive basis of that instance of economics is, by definition, false. --Data can still fool good economists when it is cherry-picked; any data produced by a non-omniscient process is going to be flawed to some extent.
* This is not to say anything good or bad about oligarchs. Merely that they are a tremendous force, and economics, political policy, and civil discussion could greatly improve with a more accurate model of their effect on global systems.
* I'd love to see an economic modeling tool able to place "black boxes" where market distortions are occurring due to probable hidden forces. Captive markets are a real nuisance.