<P> According to Keynesian economists, a combination of deficit spending and the lowering of interest rates would slowly lead to economic recovery . However, conservatives insist that the significantly - lower tax rates caused the recovery . From a high of 10.8% in December 1982, unemployment gradually improved until it fell to 7.2% on Election Day in 1984 . Nearly two million people left the unemployment rolls . Inflation fell from 10.3% in 1981 to 3.2% in 1983 . Corporate income rose by 29% in the July--September quarter of 1983, compared with the same period in 1982 . Some of the most dramatic improvements came in industries that were the hardest hit by the recession, such as paper and forest products, rubber, airlines, and the auto industry . </P> <P> By November 1984, voter anger at the recession had evaporated, and Reagan's re-election was certain . Reagan was subsequently re-elected by a landslide electoral and popular vote margin in the 1984 presidential election . Immediately after the election, Dave Stockman, Reagan's OMB manager admitted that the coming deficits were much higher than the projections that had been released during the campaign . </P>

What was the us economy like in the 1980s