When Jimmy Carter (w Volcker's reluctant support) announced credit restrictions in March 1980, people took him so seriously they immediately stopped spending. Folks mailed cut-up credit cards to the White House to show support for whipping inflation. But then the economy rapidly screeched to a halt. The Dow Jones fell -21% in six weeks. Q2 1980 GDP was -8%. Volcker blinked and the controls were lifted by late summer, setting the stage for the brutal resurgence of inflation and the double dip recession's second act of 1981-82.