Wifey sells Real Estate. Her breathren are on verbal AutoLoop, prefacing each dialog with "in this economy!". I tell her, for the love of all that is sacred, PLEASE STOP. Don't listen to them and NEVER internalize what the doom-n-gloomers say ad nauseum.
For those who can remember a couple decades back, many of the A-List musical acts got together to raise money for the world's least fortunate. Many of us remember them singing "We are the World" as part of their efforts. They didn't invent the concept that humanity and soceity are not just the sum of its parts. The world's greatest sages have been explaining this to us for centuries.
The idea that the individual also represents the whole sounds like some esoteric metaphysical gobbleygook....It's not. The world is you and vice versa. You are the economy you speak of.
Instead of whining about "what is" (the economy and/or other unpleasantries), save your lungs and take some form of action. Not only will there be a micro yet measurable effect, you'll feel a helluva lot better.