It was a lot worse when Regan took office in 1980 ... the country recovered by early 1984 from high inflation and high unemployment. Bank failures. Do a bit of research on the Recession of '81.
"most" of us survived somehow.
https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small...oyed/tax-years
Most (if not all) US corporations are on a fiscal tax year and NOT a calendar year.