> Is the US economy so fragile that it can be thought-crimed into a recession?

I think those in Behavioral Finance would argue yes, at least to a certain extent.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/07/shiller-self-fulfilling-prop...

There are some people with trauma from 2000/2001.

All economies are subject to this because markets are based on trust and faith. If enough doubt is generated then the markets will reflect that in a downturn.

Isn't there a pretty big gulf between losing faith in a market and thinking there's a recession around the corner? A breakdown in trust in a market would more closely resemble an economic collapse rather than a a few quarters of contraction, wouldn't it?

I think you're underestimating the amount of randomness at play in complex interconnected systems like markets.