Worry Wart or Realist?

So every morning I wake up, get my breakfast and sit down to enjoy it while watching the news. Lately, I have been waking up to an overwhelming amount of bleak news, aka the economy. Whenever I turn on the news all I ever hear about is the struggling economy, the outrageous gas prices, and food inflation. So I search my brain. Is this bombardment of bleak news a cause of the 24 hour news cycle, and that is why I feel like it is all I ever hear about? Or is this what is to come? A great depression maybe? Truth be told, I am not really sure. One thing that I do know, is that I cannot remember a time in my life where the economy and gas prices have sucked so much, and that scares me. However, my dad says that I feel this way because this is the first "recession," that I have been aware of. He reminds that the year I was born (1987) there was a stock crash, he crassly asks me, "Do you remember that one?" Of course I don't. I do not know a person who can recall news from the year they were born. His point being that things were bad then, and I just didn't know about them. Okay, I can agree with that. But answer me this, as long as I have been watching the news (say about every morning since 7th grade) I have never heard the news condemn the economy so much. That scares me.
Now you tell me, am I letting my imagination get the best of me?
Am I paying too much attention to my history class?
Maybe, maybe not. All I know is that all this talk reminds me of the events leading up to the great depression.