Well, the University of Chicago is a powerhouse in economics. So is Stanford. I'm not sure I would want a relative of mine to face those Chicago winters, though.
Economics is like psychology in one sense. It's great at explaining what happened, but neither is good at predicting. It's best to think of economics as being about choices, not about money. I've had one course in macroeconomics and thought it was interesting. I wish I had taken microeconomics instead, but it didn't fit my schedule, and I was in a hurry.