Dear Taylor,
As an economist I can tell you that math is an integral part of
economics. Yes, the concept of money and prices is important to
economies, and therefore, economics. But more importantly, economists
use mathematical models to predict everything from demand for a good
to the unemployment rate to whether or not an individual will get
married. The list goes on and on. These models are typically
designed as functions. For example, demand for a good is a function
of the price of the good, the price of substitute goods, and income.
Because of the extensive use of functions in economics, linear algebra
and calculus are the primary mathematical tools used by economists.
In addition, economists use statistics to test those models, so this
branch of math is also used a lot. In fact, there is an entire field
within economics called "econometrics" which deals exclusively with
the statistics related to economics.
If you are considering studying economics in college, my advice would
be to take as much algebra and calculus as you can. Most good
economics programs at US universities will require several calculus
courses and will use that math in the advanced economics courses. In
fact, many people I know from economics graduate school have their
undergraduate degrees in mathematics.
I hope that gives you some idea of how we use math, but let me know
if you need more examples.