The thing about the economy is that it is, in large part, driven by expectations. It is an excellent model of self fulfilling prophesy. Not that long ago there was talk of raising interest rates to slow the economy down, that it was growing too fast. So now the growth has slowed and we're hearing about how bad that is. Cheap money encourages folks to spend and we hear about rising levels of debt. Folks worry, slow down spending to start paying off debt, and now that is bad too because folks aren't buying as much stuff.
The thing about a recession is that you (and even the smartest people in the world) don't know you're in a recession until several months later. The best indicators of future recessions are historically inaccurate. Looking back, those signs were present for some and absent for others, but no real set of indicators except the insistence by one or another "expert" that we're headed that way have been present for all of the recessions we've been through. And there's always an expert or three out there willing to predict a recession beginning next month or next week or what ever.
So, to quote a really cool song, "Don't worry, be happy." The more folks not worried about a recession, the less chance we'll have of having one.
The best bet to ward off the affects of one is to be financially prepared to take advantage of it if it happens. Pay cash for what you want, and get your net worth and cash flows in the black. If a recession comes, the cash you spend today will have been worth less tomorrow if inflation accompanies the recession (stagflation). And if you're in the black with cash reserves, and there are deflationary forces are at work, then your cash will buy you more stuff.