NESCAC colleges compose *half/i of the top 10 and 7 (adding Bates and Colby) of the top 20 colleges in this analysis that compares economics departments at liberal arts colleges based on faculty publishing: https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.uslacecon.html. Trinity (#21) would make a nice safer admit.
For further substantiation, Williams, Middlebury, Hamilton and Wesleyan appear in this ranking that compares departments across a wide size range: https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.usecondept.html.
If you have an interest in a specialty field such as environmental economics, Hamilton faculty appears to produce the most scholarship in this area, followed by that at Williams: https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.env.html.