i'm inclined to agree there would initially be a lot of chaos with so many people depending on the internet for revenue and commerce. count my wife and i among that group since we both rely on the internet to work from home. not that we couldn't find jobs (assuming brick & mortar sites were indeed hiring), and i think the adjustment to no internet would be easier on our generation than those younger than us having grown up in a completely computer/internet-free time.
but if it's just the internet we lose, i think the world might adjust quicker than we might imagine assuming existing cell phone and cable t.v. technology still existed.