FORTUNE — Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has a can-do attitude about his recovery from neck surgery. In a letter to employees sent Monday, he thanked them for their support and assured them that he will heal soon. Schultz then outlined a similar narrative for Starbucks: the company is responding to a real but manageable threat — the latest economic turmoil — but everybody is in it together, and Starbucks will wind up on top. The letter is one CEO’s attempt to demonstrate control in the face of economic concerns, which have grown even more concerning since Standard & Poor’s downgraded the U.S. credit rating on Friday. The stock market has been see-sawing since the announcement and took a significant dive yesterday, as investors struggle to wrap their heads around gloomy economic conditions abroad and at home. Times like these put CEOs like Schultz on the spot. Their decisions matter more during uncertain economic times than just about any other, says Sydney Finkelstein, a professor of management at Dartmouth’s Tuck Executive Education school.

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The facts about the debt ceiling haven’t changed. There are less than two weeks left until Congress walks the Treasury Department off a cliff. And there is still no clear legislative path to avoid that outcome.

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The Great Recession has forced states to borrow $41 billion from a federal fund to cover unemployment checks for their jobless residents.

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