[joneil]

If you're reading HN as a 16 year old I like the chances that you'll be entrepreneurial enough to make your own way even in a bad economy. Either just finding the opportunities locally, or creating things for a global market, or packing a bag and going somewhere more promising. If you're willing to keep growing / hacking / changing, and especially if you have tech skills, you'll probably do a lot better in a downturn than much of the rest of the country.