Maybe you're right...
But on the other hand the media has been predicting imminent economic doom and the busting of the "real estate bubble" for about two years now.
Fact is that with Iraq having had to be quietly shoved under the rug by Democrats as the big issue of the year, the economy is pretty much all that they have to work with for the 2008 elections. If they can't actually encourage a real downturn, they at least have to make people think the economy sucks, which is a lot easier. Look at all the headlines that say "recession fear." Hey, it worked pretty well in 1992.