Agreed, Daz has summed this up pretty well. I'd maybe add the point that elixir can be quite valuable when farming at high level due to the need for more expensive armies and/or spells needed to get the gold/de.
There's also a possible change in the balance of value when upgrading to a new TH and you are chasing elixir for troop/camp upgrades.
A technical analysis of the term 'economy' is not required to see this.

