No, indeed. 'Men make their own history', Marx said.
I say, it is not the state of the economy that shapes the left's response, but the state of the left that shapes the response to the economy.
The left in the 1970s was (comparatively) assertive and self-confident, and its reaction to economic crisis was combative. The state of the left in 2010 is by comparison fatalistic and cautious, and its reaction to the crisis is tentative.
Working people have tried to defend themselves - as in the recent BA dispute, or the vigorous London cleaners' campaign - but their struggle took place in climate that did not favour militancy or solidarity, and so they were isolated.