Um, US forces bombed Libya about a week ago. Then there is Afghanistan (still unstable) and Iraq (still unstable). Then there's Yemen, where they are still fighting. And the attempted coup d'tat in Turkey just six months ago. Iran and the Kurds are still going at one another. I'm not sure what you're talking about with the Middle East being "quiet". You mean, the news media moved on? That's not the same thing as quiet. 

As far as the economy is concerned, it all depends on what industry you work in if it is "steady". For about 40% of the country, it is unsteady. We here in Alaska have been somewhat shielded from that, but if you lived anywhere in the Lower 48 outside of the cities, you'd know that the economy as it affects ordinarily people's lives isn't really all that good. It's not Great Depression bad, but it remains at 1970s recession bad levels, despite the trillions of dollars of stimulus Obama threw at it. Again, the media moved on, but that didn't mean the economy recovered.