He ignored them in a very deliberate way. He gave ridiculous speeches, for instance, in a farm field about how an extra $10 billion in farm exports would turn our $10 trillion economy around. He gave an economic speech in a truck depot in front of boxes with fake "made in America" labels. He gave an economic speech in Alabama about how more government spending on eduaction would lead to jobs at the Honda plant. At the Waco economic forum VP Cheney attended session the on technology, not GWB, and he didn't say a word. Not one economic speech was given in a high tech center, nor was tech ever mentioned positively in an economic speech. High tech was the growth engine of our economy all during the Reagan expansion. It deserved better.
Two things turned our economy around. The 9/11 attacks forced Greenspan to end his war on wealth and full employment, and the second Bush tax cut, which was largely crafted by Republicans in congress, not the White House.