I am winning games with 25-50% less economy than my opponents. How is this possible, how can I keep doing this?

Hey!

I played AOM as a child, and now I'm getting back into it as an adult. I play on steam, and have been hoovering around 1700-1750. Recently I've had a great string of wins, but in the post game scores, I've noticed that I'm lagging behind my competitors in the economy categories by quite a bit.

This is surprising because you think they could out econ me. This may sound like a humble brag, but in all seriousness, can someone tell me what is going on here? Anybody who knows more about this game than me have similar experiences?

I don't know if I am out tactic-ing people or what, but I want to figure it out so I can keep doing it!