I'm not dumb and I even have the time, but I'd still give proxy to someone who I thought serious understood the issue at hand (so, say, an economist for economic issues). Unfortunately, we currently get the worst of all worlds, representative democracy where the decision makers are career politicians and rarely experts in anything. A representative technocracy would suit me.
I don't see a way around it (doesn't mean there isn't one), because how would you identify the economics expert? Seems to me it would still boil down to marketing, the "expert" who advertises himself the best would win. Obviously that advertising could not happen in terms of presenting economics knowledge, because few people would understand it. So the advertising would be in things people understand, like looks, presentation skills, charme... So basically just what already happens.
