I think people have little or no knowledge of what economics is all about. Economists use sophisticated analytical tools as seen in econometrics to provide empirical solutions to problems. Most of the tools used by accountants are products of economic analysis. Once you know you are to debit a receiver and credit a giver the rest of the accounting job is done.
The accounting system to be used will have to go through econometrics model testing to prove its applicability and usefulness. if you hold FCA you will understand better.
In a nut shell Accountants are more of technicians and middle level employees while economists are more of problem solvers and policy makers using data generated by other professionals including accountants.
Finally, a lot of economists pass Accounting exams with very minimal difficulty but Accountants struggle to get pass in economics. Check the pass rate per papers in any ICAN diet.