PoC,
By economy rifle I do mean cheap money. While I know that can be relative to a person's income, I think we all know that over the last 5-10 years, a 3-400 hundred dollar bolt rifle fits this category. While I don't have any desire to have a safe full of this kind of rifle, having a couple of them to use is not a bad thing.
I bought that Marlin XL7 for $279. To me, that's a hell of a deal. I bought and gave my brother 3 Ruger Americans. The most I paid for one was $284 for a stainless .243 Win.
There have been a lot of post here with good examples. With today's economy I think a rifle in the 4-500 dollar range probably falls in to the economy rifle bracket.
