Economics is such a good song. If it didn't end up being scrapped, it would have been such beautiful and perfect illustration of either Ms. Leading or Ms. Terri's life. It was made for the Dear Ms. Leading demo, but would fit for them both based on what we know of the characters currently, though if it was included it would probably have went onto Act II.
If it were on Act I, it could be when Ms. Terri returns to The Dime. The lyrics would be great for this ("Maybe I'll be able to respect myself this time, because it's part of me, it's economics, I do it well enough to get by", "It's not my whole life you are buying with every copper coin").
The song does eventually say "No, my friend, I'm not for sale anymore", implying the singer to have left The Dime. My guess is that this is a major reason the song was not reworked, as neither women ended up leaving The Dime (at least, not that we knew of), unless you count Ms. Terri leaving for a brief period when she was first raising Hunter and when it shut down in If All Goes Well, when Ms. Leading couldn't have possibly worked there.
If it were used for Ms. Leading, then it could well explain her feelings about her work at The Dime. Evicted, however, already does this rather well. If Economics described her life just before and after If All Goes Well, it would fit in perfectly, and give us a glimpse into how her life has been since we last saw her in Act II. If Wait is meant to be about her, then it makes her appearance far less sudden, considering there is a story reason for us to return to her perspective (The Dime shutting down, and her being the only living worker there we know of). It also makes Melpomene feel more natural, as it is established she is still here near the end of Act IV.
Economics also has faint vocal percussion in the background ("ba, ba-ba ba-ba"). This is somewhat similar to that in Red Hands. It could have been part of a motif that would have worked to signal something specific, as I don't think this exact sort of vocal percussion returns in The Acts. Perhaps it could be a bit like the wood blocks that we hear when The Lake is mentioned.
I did not intend this to be an essay, by the way. I was just listening to this song on repeat and had too many thoughts to fit into a few sentences.
