The words ecology and economy are very similar. Ecology derives from the words οἶκος + λογία, i.e. the study of the house/household. Economy derives from the words οἶκος + νόμος, i.e. the laws of the house/household. In modern usage, ecology studies, among other things, movement of materials and energy through living communities (e.g. Wikipedia). Economy, in modern usage, is defined by Wikipedia as An economy or economic system consists of the production, distribution or trade, and consumption of limited goods and services by different agents in a given geographical location. An interdisciplinary field is called ecological economics, which is the treatment of the economy as a subsystem of the ecosystem (again according to Wikipedia).
I've often wondered by ecologists and economists seem, often quite literally and physically, separated fields. Ecological economics considers the economy as a subsystem of the ecosystem. Why is this not standard? How can the economy ever not be a subsystem of the ecology, and why is not all economics "ecological economics"? Or is it?