Do your elders manage their households well? And no, I'm not just talking about the relationships between their wife and children, but also their finances, their conduct and general wisdom. Are they above reproach?
If we are to entrust our elders to the finances of the church, the tithe and other financial decisions, then it is reasonable to expect them to have a decent understanding of realestate, economics and almost certainly politics. How else could they come to a well reasoned conclusion about a specific direction the church should take?
"The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil." — 1 Timothy 3:1-7
I would argue that we should definitely look to our elders when it comes to these things. Why else would we have elected them?
I'm not arguing that the elder should be an economist or expert on foreign policy, merely that he would be aware of these things and have a good understanding of how they can affect his flock.