Misplaced Pages

Trickle-down economics: Difference between revisions

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Browse history interactively← Previous editNext edit →Content deleted Content addedVisualWikitext
Revision as of 05:21, 25 December 2023 editOAbot (talk | contribs)Bots439,234 editsm Open access bot: doi updated in citation with #oabot.← Previous edit Revision as of 04:00, 2 January 2024 edit undoForbes72 (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users20,336 edits Objections to the term: another objection, sourceNext edit →
(17 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown)
Line 2: Line 2:
{{about|the political term|the marketing phenomenon|trickle-down effect}} {{about|the political term|the marketing phenomenon|trickle-down effect}}
{{use mdy dates|date=January 2021}} {{use mdy dates|date=January 2021}}
{{Over-quotation|date=January 2024}}
]'s economic policies, dubbed "]" by opponents, included large tax cuts and were characterized as trickle-down economics. In this picture, he is outlining his plan for the ] from the ] in a televised address, July 1981.]] ]'s economic policies, dubbed "]" by opponents, included large tax cuts and were characterized as trickle-down economics. In this picture, he is outlining his plan for the ] from the ] in a televised address, July 1981.]]
{{Economics sidebar}} {{Economics sidebar}}
{{Neoliberalism sidebar}} {{Neoliberalism sidebar}}


'''Trickle-down economics''' refers to economic policies that disproportionately favor the upper tier of the ], comprising wealthy individuals and large corporations. The policies are based on the idea that spending by this group will "trickle down" to those less fortunate in the form of stronger economic growth.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lockwood |first1=Benjamin |last2=Gomes |first2=Joao |last3=Smetters |first3=Kent |last4=Inman |first4=Robert |title=Does Trickle-down Economics Add Up – or Is It a Drop in the Bucket? |url=https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/trickle-economics-flood-drip/ |website=Knowledge at Wharton |publisher=A business journal from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania |access-date=1 February 2023 |archive-date=February 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230201202510/https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/trickle-economics-flood-drip/ |url-status=live }}</ref> '''Trickle-down economics''' is a generally critical term for ],<ref name=Noah2011>{{cite web | last=Noah | first=Timothy | title=New Republic: How Did Trickle-Down Get Acceptable? | website=NPR | date=2011-09-21 | url=https://www.npr.org/2011/09/21/140662014/new-republic-how-did-trickle-down-get-acceptable | access-date=2024-01-01}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Derided by critics, trickle-down economics gets another try | website=AP News | date=2017-11-17 | url=https://apnews.com/article/570b325ec810468c857cb09723ad1fe7 | access-date=2024-01-01}}</ref> criticizing such policies as favoring wealthy individuals and large corporations. In the "trickle down" description, wealthy individuals directly benefit from supply-side style tax cuts, leaving only the leftover wealth to "trickle down" to those less fortunate.<ref name=Lockwood>{{cite web |last1=Lockwood |first1=Benjamin |last2=Gomes |first2=Joao |last3=Smetters |first3=Kent |last4=Inman |first4=Robert |title=Does Trickle-down Economics Add Up – or Is It a Drop in the Bucket? |url=https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/trickle-economics-flood-drip/ |website=Knowledge at Wharton |publisher=A business journal from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania |access-date=1 February 2023 |archive-date=February 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230201202510/https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/trickle-economics-flood-drip/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The term has been used broadly by critics of supply-side economics to refer to ] by governments that, intentionally or not, result in widening ]; it has also been used in critical references to ].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Springer |first1=Simon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M5qkDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA3 |title=Handbook of Neoliberalism |last2=Birch |first2=Kean |last3=MacLeavy |first3=Julie |date=2016-07-07 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-54966-6 |language=en}}</ref> While economists who favor supply-side economics generally avoid the "trickle down" analogy and dispute the focus on tax cuts to the rich, the phrase "trickle down" has also been occasionally used by proponents of such policies.<ref name=Lockwood /><ref>{{cite web | last=Harwood | first=John | title=Gary Cohn: Trickle-down is good for the economy | website=CNBC | date=2017-11-09 | url=https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/09/gary-cohn-trickle-down-is-good-for-the-economy.html | access-date=2024-01-01}}</ref>


Similar criticisms have existed since at least the 19th century, though the term "trickle-down economics" was popularized in the U.S. in reference to ].<ref name=Noah2011 /> Major examples of what critics have called "trickle-down economics" in the U.S. include the ],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Redenius |first1=Charles |title=Thatcherism and Reagonomics: Supply-Side Economic Policy in Great Britain and the United States |journal=Journal of Political Science |date=April 1983 |volume=10 |issue=2, Article 4 |url=https://digitalcommons.coastal.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1104&context=jops |access-date=9 February 2023 |publisher=The Athenaeum Press |issn=0098-4612 |archive-date=December 2, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221202223208/https://digitalcommons.coastal.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1104&context=jops |url-status=live }}</ref> the ],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.epi.org/publication/the_bush_tax_cuts_disproportionately_benefitted_the_wealthy/|quote=The Bush-era tax cuts were designed to reduce taxes for the wealthy, and the benefits of faster growth were then supposed to trickle down to the middle class.|title=The Bush Tax Cuts Disproportionately Benefitted the Wealthy|website=]|access-date=February 1, 2023|archive-date=February 1, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230201210311/https://www.epi.org/publication/the_bush_tax_cuts_disproportionately_benefitted_the_wealthy/|url-status=live}}</ref> and the ].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/11/19/trickle-down-economics-gets-new-life-republicans-push-tax-cut-plan/878702001/|title=Trickle-down economics gets new life as Republicans push tax-cut plan|website=]|quote=Behind is a theory long popular among conservatives: Slash taxes for corporations and rich people, who will then hire, invest and profit — and cause money to trickle into the pockets of ordinary Americans.|access-date=May 7, 2021|archive-date=May 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210509061759/https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/11/19/trickle-down-economics-gets-new-life-republicans-push-tax-cut-plan/878702001/|url-status=live}}</ref> Major UK examples include ]'s ].<ref name="lis truss favours" /> As of 2023, studies have not shown that there is a demonstrable link between reducing tax burdens on the upper end and ].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Aghion |first1=Philippe |last2=Bolton |first2=Patrick |date=April 1997 |title=A Theory of Trickle-Down Growth and Development |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2971707 |journal=The Review of Economic Studies |volume=64 |issue=2 |pages=151 |doi=10.2307/2971707 |jstor=2971707 |issn=0034-6527}}</ref><ref name="Hope-2022">{{Cite journal |last1=Hope |first1=David |last2=Limberg |first2=Julian |date=2022-01-07 |title=The economic consequences of major tax cuts for the rich |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ser/mwab061 |journal=Socio-Economic Review |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=539–559 |doi=10.1093/ser/mwab061 |issn=1475-1461|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Arndt |first=H. W. |date=1983 |title=The "Trickle-down" Myth |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1153421 |journal=Economic Development and Cultural Change |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=1–10 |doi=10.1086/451369 |jstor=1153421 |s2cid=153842242 |issn=0013-0079}}</ref>
The term has been used broadly by critics of ] to refer to ] by governments that, intentionally or not, result in widening ]; it has also been used in critical references to ].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Springer |first1=Simon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M5qkDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA3 |title=Handbook of Neoliberalism |last2=Birch |first2=Kean |last3=MacLeavy |first3=Julie |date=2016-07-07 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-54966-6 |language=en}}</ref>

Major examples of what critics have called "trickle-down economics" in the U.S. include the ],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Redenius |first1=Charles |title=Thatcherism and Reagonomics: Supply-Side Economic Policy in Great Britain and the United States |journal=Journal of Political Science |date=April 1983 |volume=10 |issue=2, Article 4 |url=https://digitalcommons.coastal.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1104&context=jops |access-date=9 February 2023 |publisher=The Athenaeum Press |issn=0098-4612 |archive-date=December 2, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221202223208/https://digitalcommons.coastal.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1104&context=jops |url-status=live }}</ref> the ],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.epi.org/publication/the_bush_tax_cuts_disproportionately_benefitted_the_wealthy/|quote=The Bush-era tax cuts were designed to reduce taxes for the wealthy, and the benefits of faster growth were then supposed to trickle down to the middle class.|title=The Bush Tax Cuts Disproportionately Benefitted the Wealthy|website=]|access-date=February 1, 2023|archive-date=February 1, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230201210311/https://www.epi.org/publication/the_bush_tax_cuts_disproportionately_benefitted_the_wealthy/|url-status=live}}</ref> and the ].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/11/19/trickle-down-economics-gets-new-life-republicans-push-tax-cut-plan/878702001/|title=Trickle-down economics gets new life as Republicans push tax-cut plan|website=]|quote=Behind is a theory long popular among conservatives: Slash taxes for corporations and rich people, who will then hire, invest and profit — and cause money to trickle into the pockets of ordinary Americans.|access-date=May 7, 2021|archive-date=May 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210509061759/https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/11/19/trickle-down-economics-gets-new-life-republicans-push-tax-cut-plan/878702001/|url-status=live}}</ref> Major UK examples include ]'s ].<ref name="lis truss favours" /> As of 2023, studies have not shown that there is a demonstrable link between reducing tax burdens on the upper end and ].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Aghion |first1=Philippe |last2=Bolton |first2=Patrick |date=April 1997 |title=A Theory of Trickle-Down Growth and Development |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2971707 |journal=The Review of Economic Studies |volume=64 |issue=2 |pages=151 |doi=10.2307/2971707 |jstor=2971707 |issn=0034-6527}}</ref><ref name="Hope-2022">{{Cite journal |last1=Hope |first1=David |last2=Limberg |first2=Julian |date=2022-01-07 |title=The economic consequences of major tax cuts for the rich |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ser/mwab061 |journal=Socio-Economic Review |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=539–559 |doi=10.1093/ser/mwab061 |issn=1475-1461|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Arndt |first=H. W. |date=1983 |title=The "Trickle-down" Myth |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1153421 |journal=Economic Development and Cultural Change |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=1–10 |doi=10.1086/451369 |jstor=1153421 |s2cid=153842242 |issn=0013-0079}}</ref>


== History == == History ==
===Background===
], who criticized trickle-down theory in his ] in 1896]] ], who criticized trickle-down theory in his ] in 1896]]
The ] shows<ref>{{cite web |title=Trickle down economics |url=https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=Trickle%20down%20economics&year_start=1800&year_end=2019&corpus=26&smoothing=3&direct_url=t1%3B%2CTrickle%20down%20economics%3B%2Cc0 |website=Google Books Ngram Viewer |access-date=7 February 2023 |archive-date=February 3, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230203233920/https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=Trickle%20down%20economics&year_start=1800&year_end=2019&corpus=26&smoothing=3&direct_url=t1%3B,Trickle%20down%20economics%3B,c0 |url-status=live }}</ref> that the term "trickle down economics" was rarely seen in published works until the 1980s. However, the concept that economic prosperity in the upper classes flows down into the lower classes is at least 100 years old. The term itself is used mostly by critics of the concept. The ] shows<ref>{{cite web |title=Trickle down economics |url=https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=Trickle%20down%20economics&year_start=1800&year_end=2019&corpus=26&smoothing=3&direct_url=t1%3B%2CTrickle%20down%20economics%3B%2Cc0 |website=Google Books Ngram Viewer |access-date=7 February 2023 |archive-date=February 3, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230203233920/https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=Trickle%20down%20economics&year_start=1800&year_end=2019&corpus=26&smoothing=3&direct_url=t1%3B,Trickle%20down%20economics%3B,c0 |url-status=live }}</ref> that the term "trickle down economics" was rarely seen in published works until the 1980s. However, the concept that economic prosperity in the upper classes flows down into the lower classes is at least 100 years old. The term itself is used mostly by critics of the concept. The '']'' notes that the first known use of "trickle-down" as an ] meaning "relating to or working on the principle of trickle-down theory" was in 1944<ref>. ''Merriam-Webster'' (online edition). {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100410125101/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trickle-down |date=April 10, 2010 }}. Accessed September 17, 2010.</ref> while the first known use of "trickle-down theory" was in 1954.<ref>. ''Merriam-Webster'' (online edition). {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100410124947/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trickle-down%20theory |date=April 10, 2010 }}. Accessed September 17, 2010.</ref>


In 1896, United States ] ] ] described the concept using the metaphor of a "leak" in his {{nowrap|]:<ref>Wilson, Thomas Frederick. 1992. '' {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230311191825/https://books.google.com/books?id=VIAbb1cKqp4C&pg=PA172&dq= |date=March 11, 2023 }}''. Armonk, New York: M. E. Sharpe. p. 172. {{ISBN|0873327942}}</ref><ref>Baker, Andrew, David Hudson, and Richard Woodward. 2005. '' {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230311191826/https://books.google.com/books?id=TxaAAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA26&dq= |date=March 11, 2023 }}''. London; New York: Routledge. p. 26. {{ISBN|9780203479278}}.</ref>}} In 1896, United States ] ] ] described the concept using the metaphor of a "leak" in his {{nowrap|]:<ref>Wilson, Thomas Frederick. 1992. '' {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230311191825/https://books.google.com/books?id=VIAbb1cKqp4C&pg=PA172&dq= |date=March 11, 2023 }}''. Armonk, New York: M. E. Sharpe. p. 172. {{ISBN|0873327942}}</ref><ref>Baker, Andrew, David Hudson, and Richard Woodward. 2005. '' {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230311191826/https://books.google.com/books?id=TxaAAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA26&dq= |date=March 11, 2023 }}''. London; New York: Routledge. p. 26. {{ISBN|9780203479278}}.</ref>}}


{{blockquote|There are two ideas of government. There are those who believe that if you just legislate to make the well-to-do prosperous, that their prosperity will leak through on those below. The Democratic idea has been that if you legislate to make the masses prosperous their prosperity will find its way up and through every class that rests upon it.<ref name="historymatters.gmu.edu">, {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927180925/http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5354 |date=September 27, 2011 }}, historymatters.com</ref>}} {{blockquote|There are two ideas of government. There are those who believe that if you just legislate to make the well-to-do prosperous, that their prosperity will leak through on those below. The Democratic idea has been that if you legislate to make the masses prosperous their prosperity will find its way up and through every class that rests upon it.<ref name="historymatters.gmu.edu">, {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927180925/http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5354 |date=September 27, 2011 }}, historymatters.com</ref>}}

In 1982 ] wrote that "trickle-down economics" was known in the 1890s under the name "horse-and-sparrow theory", the idea that feeding a horse a huge amount of oats will result in some of the feed passing through for lucky sparrows to eat.<ref name=galbraith />


] credits humorist and social commentator ] for coining the term and noted in 2007 its persistent use throughout the decades since.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bennett |first1=William J. |title=America: The Last Best Hope |isbn=978-1595551115 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PLP5U-M8dhoC&q=trickle |publisher=Harper Collins |page=78 |year=2007 |quote=Will Rogers referred to the theory that cutting taxes for higher earners and businesses was a "trickle-down" policy, a term that has stuck over the years. |access-date=February 18, 2023 |archive-date=March 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230311191825/https://books.google.com/books?id=PLP5U-M8dhoC&q=trickle |url-status=live }}</ref> In a 1932 column criticizing ] policies and approach to ] Rogers wrote: ] credits humorist and social commentator ] for coining the term and noted in 2007 its persistent use throughout the decades since.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bennett |first1=William J. |title=America: The Last Best Hope |isbn=978-1595551115 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PLP5U-M8dhoC&q=trickle |publisher=Harper Collins |page=78 |year=2007 |quote=Will Rogers referred to the theory that cutting taxes for higher earners and businesses was a "trickle-down" policy, a term that has stuck over the years. |access-date=February 18, 2023 |archive-date=March 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230311191825/https://books.google.com/books?id=PLP5U-M8dhoC&q=trickle |url-status=live }}</ref> In a 1932 column criticizing ] policies and approach to ] Rogers wrote:
Line 29: Line 27:


{{blockquote|The exploitation of India and other countries brought so much wealth to England that some of it trickled down to the working class and their standard of living rose."<ref>The "Trickle-Down" Myth, ], Economic Development and Cultural Change, Oct., 1983, Vol. 32, No. 1 (Oct., 1983), pp. 1-10, UCP, https://www.jstor.org/stable/1153421 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221010184239/https://www.jstor.org/stable/1153421 |date=October 10, 2022 }}</ref>}} {{blockquote|The exploitation of India and other countries brought so much wealth to England that some of it trickled down to the working class and their standard of living rose."<ref>The "Trickle-Down" Myth, ], Economic Development and Cultural Change, Oct., 1983, Vol. 32, No. 1 (Oct., 1983), pp. 1-10, UCP, https://www.jstor.org/stable/1153421 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221010184239/https://www.jstor.org/stable/1153421 |date=October 10, 2022 }}</ref>}}

The '']'' notes that the first known use of "trickle-down" as an ] meaning "relating to or working on the principle of trickle-down theory" was in 1944<ref>. ''Merriam-Webster'' (online edition). {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100410125101/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trickle-down |date=April 10, 2010 }}. Accessed September 17, 2010.</ref> while the first known use of "trickle-down theory" was in 1954.<ref>. ''Merriam-Webster'' (online edition). {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100410124947/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trickle-down%20theory |date=April 10, 2010 }}. Accessed September 17, 2010.</ref>


After leaving the ], Democrat ] alleged "] ... simply don't know how to manage the economy. They're so busy operating the trickle-down theory, giving the richest corporations the biggest break, that the whole thing goes ]."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/73jul/janos.htm |title=The Last Days of the President |first=Leo|last=Janos|work=The Atlantic |date=July 1973 |access-date=March 12, 2017|archive-date=July 1, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130701093315/http://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/73jul/janos.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> After leaving the ], Democrat ] alleged "] ... simply don't know how to manage the economy. They're so busy operating the trickle-down theory, giving the richest corporations the biggest break, that the whole thing goes ]."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/73jul/janos.htm |title=The Last Days of the President |first=Leo|last=Janos|work=The Atlantic |date=July 1973 |access-date=March 12, 2017|archive-date=July 1, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130701093315/http://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/73jul/janos.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>
Line 36: Line 32:
Presidential speechwriter ] wrote in 2008 that "trickle down policies" had been prevalent in American government since 1921.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N9TiWUk6TqUC|title=The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression|last=Shlaes|first=Amity|date=May 27, 2008|publisher=Harper Perennial|isbn=9780060936426|pages=128|language=en|access-date=September 6, 2022|quote=The philosophy that had prevailed in Washington since 1921, that the object of government was to provide prosperity for those who lived and worked at the top of the economic pyramid, in the belief that prosperity would trickle down to the bottom of the heap and benefit all.|archive-date=March 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303000016/https://books.google.com/books?id=N9TiWUk6TqUC|url-status=live}}</ref> Presidential speechwriter ] wrote in 2008 that "trickle down policies" had been prevalent in American government since 1921.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N9TiWUk6TqUC|title=The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression|last=Shlaes|first=Amity|date=May 27, 2008|publisher=Harper Perennial|isbn=9780060936426|pages=128|language=en|access-date=September 6, 2022|quote=The philosophy that had prevailed in Washington since 1921, that the object of government was to provide prosperity for those who lived and worked at the top of the economic pyramid, in the belief that prosperity would trickle down to the bottom of the heap and benefit all.|archive-date=March 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303000016/https://books.google.com/books?id=N9TiWUk6TqUC|url-status=live}}</ref>


===Reagan years===
Political scientists Brainard Guy Peters and Maximilian Lennart Nagel in 2020 labeled the idea usually expressed as 'trickle down' a "zombie idea", and stated that it has been the most enduring failed policy idea in American politics.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Peters|first1=Brainard Guy|last2=Nagel|first2=Maximilian Lennart|date=2020|title=Zombie Ideas: Why Failed Policy Ideas Persist|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/elements/zombie-ideas/77F6FA03E416DB0E578213464BA1E860|access-date=November 28, 2020|website=Elements in Public Policy|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=8|language=en|doi=10.1017/9781108921312|isbn=9781108921312|s2cid=229422499|archive-date=December 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201227204017/https://www.cambridge.org/core/elements/zombie-ideas/77F6FA03E416DB0E578213464BA1E860|url-status=live}}</ref>
Ronald Reagan launched his 1980 campaign for the presidency on a platform advocating for ]. During the ], ] had derided Reagan's economic approach as "voodoo economics".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wiseman |first=Paul |title=Trickle-down economics gets another try |url=https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2017/11/17/taxes-trickle-economics/107795832/ |access-date=2022-10-18 |website=The Detroit News |language=en-US |archive-date=October 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221018190311/https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2017/11/17/taxes-trickle-economics/107795832/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/270292.stm |title=Reagonomics or 'voodoo economics'? |work=BBC News |date=June 5, 2004 |access-date=January 4, 2012 |archive-date=August 29, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170829072015/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/270292.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> Following Reagan's election, the "trickle-down" reached wide circulation with the publication of "The Education of David Stockman" a December 1981 interview of ] director ], in the magazine ]. In the interview, Stockman was sharply critical of ], telling journalist ] that the ] was a way to rebrand a tax cut for the top income bracket to make it easier to pass into law:<ref name=atlantic-stockman> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201227204043/https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1981/12/the-education-of-david-stockman/305760/?single_page=true |date=December 27, 2020 }} by William Greider</ref><ref>William Greider. ''The Education of David Stockman''. {{ISBN|0-525-48010-2}}.</ref>


{{blockquote|It's kind of hard to sell 'trickle down,' so the supply-side formula was the only way to get a tax policy that was really 'trickle down.' Supply-side is 'trickle-down' theory.|David Stockman|'']''}}
== Usage ==
While the term "trickle-down" is commonly used to refer to income benefits, it is sometimes used to refer to the idea of ] arising from technological innovation or increased trade. ],<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/equalityefficien0000okun|url-access=registration|title=Equality and Efficiency, the Big Tradeoff|last=Okun|first=Arthur M.|date=1975|publisher=Brookings Institution|isbn=9780815764762|pages=–47|language=en}}</ref> and separately ],<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=REsy7T4EO8gC|title=The Microtheory of Innovative Entrepreneurship|last=Baumol|first=William J.|date=July 1, 2010|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=9781400835225|pages=80|language=en|access-date=September 17, 2020|archive-date=December 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201227204046/https://books.google.com/books?id=REsy7T4EO8gC|url-status=live}}</ref> for example, have used the term to refer to the flow of the benefits of innovation, which do not accrue entirely to the "great entrepreneurs and inventors", but trickle down to the masses. And Nobel laureate economist ] used the term in reference to the impact on wealth from tariff changes.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Romer|first=Paul|date=February 1, 1994|title=New goods, old theory, and the welfare costs of trade restrictions|journal=Journal of Development Economics|volume=43|issue=1|pages=5–38|doi=10.1016/0304-3878(94)90021-3|s2cid=28772407|issn=0304-3878|url=http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/294826/files/ipr064.pdf}}</ref>


Political opponents of the ] soon seized on this language in an effort to brand the administration as caring only about the wealthy.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Thomas |first=Sowell |date=January 7, 2014 |title=The Trickle-Down Lie |url=https://www.nationalreview.com/2014/01/trickle-down-lie-thomas-sowell/ |website=National Review |access-date=May 24, 2022 |archive-date=May 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220524023321/https://www.nationalreview.com/2014/01/trickle-down-lie-thomas-sowell/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1982, ] wrote the "trickle-down economics" that that ] was referring to was previously known under the name "horse-and-sparrow theory", the idea that feeding a horse a huge amount of oats will result in some of the feed passing through for lucky sparrows to eat.<ref name=galbraith>Galbraith, John Kenneth (February 4, 1982) . {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201227204026/https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1982/02/04/recession-economics/ |date=December 27, 2020 }}. '']'' Volume 29, Number 1.</ref> Reagan administration officials including ] wanted Stockman to be fired in response to his comments, but he was ultimately kept on in exchange for a private apology.<ref>{{cite web | title=David Stockman's famous trip to the woodshed was prompted... | website=UPI | date=1986-04-12 | url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1986/04/12/David-Stockmans-famous-trip-to-the-woodshed-was-prompted/2637513666000/ | access-date=2024-01-02}}</ref>
Despite a lack of practical-use evidence for the ], it is often cited by proponents of trickle-down policy.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Art Laffer still thinks he was right about tax cuts |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/11/02/laffer-truss-trump-tax-cuts/ |access-date=2023-02-03 |issn=0190-8286 |archive-date=November 30, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221130213718/https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/11/02/laffer-truss-trump-tax-cuts/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="lis truss favours">{{Cite news |last=Elliott |first=Larry |date=2022-09-20 |title=Liz Truss favours trickle down economics but results can be trickle up |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/sep/20/liz-truss-favours-trickle-down-economics-but-results-can-be-trickle-up |access-date=2023-02-03 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=October 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221020125826/https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/sep/20/liz-truss-favours-trickle-down-economics-but-results-can-be-trickle-up |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Economics ===
] consistently argues that trickle-down economics has never been advocated by any economist, writing in his 2012 book ''"Trickle Down" Theory and "Tax Cuts for the Rich"'':

{{blockquote|
Let's do something completely unexpected: Let's stop and think. Why would
anyone advocate that we "give" something to A in hopes that it would trickle
down to B? Why in the world would any sane person not give it to B and cut
out the middleman? But all this is moot, because there was no trickle-down
theory about giving something to anybody in the first place.

The "trickle-down" theory cannot be found in even the most voluminous scholarly studies of economic theories - including [[Joseph Schumpeter|J. A.
Schumpeter]]'s monumental ''History of Economic Analysis'', more than a thousand pages long and printed in very small type.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.hoover.org/sites/default/files/uploads/documents/Sowell_TrickleDown_FINAL.pdf|title="Trickle Down" Theory and "Tax Cuts for the Rich"|last=Sowell|first=Thomas|date=2012|publisher=Hoover Institution Press|isbn=9780817916152|pages=1–2|language=en|access-date=September 6, 2022|archive-date=October 6, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221006121923/https://www.hoover.org/sites/default/files/uploads/documents/Sowell_TrickleDown_FINAL.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

Sowell has also written extensively on ] and opposes its characterization firmly, citing that it has never claimed to work in a "trickle-down" fashion. Rather, the economic theory of reducing marginal tax rates works in precisely the opposite direction: "Workers are always paid first and then profits flow upward later – if at all."<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.creators.com/read/thomas-sowell/01/14/the-trickle-down-lie |title=The 'Trickle-Down' Lie |first=Thomas |last=Sowell |date=January 7, 2014 |access-date=December 1, 2020 |archive-date=December 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201227204020/https://www.creators.com/read/thomas-sowell/01/14/the-trickle-down-lie |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120924180805/http://tsowell.com/images/Hoover%20Proof.pdf |date=September 24, 2012 }}.</ref>

] noted that "trickle-down economics" had been tried before in the United States in the 1890s under the name "horse-and-sparrow theory", writing:

{{blockquote|Mr. ] has said that ] was merely a cover for the trickle-down approach to economic policy—what an older and less elegant generation called the horse-and-sparrow theory: "If you feed the horse enough oats, some will pass through to the road for the sparrows."}}

Galbraith theorized that the horse-and-sparrow theory was partly to blame for the ].<ref name=galbraith>Galbraith, John Kenneth (February 4, 1982) . {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201227204026/https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1982/02/04/recession-economics/ |date=December 27, 2020 }}. '']'' Volume 29, Number 1.</ref>


== Usage ==
===Economic analyses of the effects of lowering taxes on the wealthy===
Nobel laureate ] wrote in 2015 that the post-World War II evidence does not support trickle-down economics, but rather "trickle-up economics" whereby more money in the pockets of the poor or the middle benefits everyone.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Stiglitz |first=Joseph E. |date=December 2015 |title=8. Inequality and Economic Growth |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-923X.12237 |journal=The Political Quarterly |language=en |volume=86 |pages=134–155 |doi=10.1111/1467-923X.12237 |access-date=February 1, 2023 |archive-date=February 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230201170758/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-923X.12237 |url-status=live }}</ref> Nobel laureate ] wrote in 2015 that the post-World War II evidence does not support trickle-down economics, but rather "trickle-up economics" whereby more money in the pockets of the poor or the middle benefits everyone.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Stiglitz |first=Joseph E. |date=December 2015 |title=8. Inequality and Economic Growth |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-923X.12237 |journal=The Political Quarterly |language=en |volume=86 |pages=134–155 |doi=10.1111/1467-923X.12237 |access-date=February 1, 2023 |archive-date=February 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230201170758/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-923X.12237 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Nobel laureate ] has also been sharply critical of trickle-down policies.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-08-20 |title=The Political Failure of Trickle-Down Economics |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2017/08/20/the-political-failure-of-trickle-down-economics/ |access-date=2023-02-01 |website=Paul Krugman Blog |language=en |archive-date=February 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230201222323/https://archive.nytimes.com/krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2017/08/20/the-political-failure-of-trickle-down-economics/ |url-status=live }}</ref>


In a 2020 research paper, economists David Hope and Julian Limberg analyzed data spanning 50 years from 18 countries, and found that tax cuts for the rich only succeeded at increasing inequality and making the rich wealthier, with no beneficial effect on real GDP per capita or employment. According to the study, this shows that the tax cuts for the upper class did not trickle down to the broader economy.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2020-12-21 |title=Trickle-Down Economics Fails a Sophisticated Statistical Test |language=en |work=Bloomberg.com |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-21/trickle-down-economics-fails-a-sophisticated-statistical-test |access-date=2023-02-01 |archive-date=February 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230224165054/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-21/trickle-down-economics-fails-a-sophisticated-statistical-test |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Picchi |first=Aimee |date=December 17, 2020 |title=50 years of tax cuts for the rich failed to trickle down, economics study says |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tax-cuts-rich-50-years-no-trickle-down/ |access-date=2023-02-01 |website=CBS News |language=en-US |archive-date=February 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230201220351/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tax-cuts-rich-50-years-no-trickle-down/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Hope-2022" /><ref>{{cite news |author1=Christopher Ingraham |date=December 23, 2020 |orig-date= |title='Trickle-down' tax cuts make the rich richer but are of no value to overall economy, study finds |newspaper=] |place=Washington, D.C. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/12/23/tax-cuts-rich-trickle-down/ |issn=0190-8286 |oclc=1330888409 |access-date=October 3, 2022 |archive-date=August 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220819175439/https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/12/23/tax-cuts-rich-trickle-down/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In a 2020 research paper, economists David Hope and Julian Limberg analyzed data spanning 50 years from 18 countries, and found that tax cuts for the rich only succeeded at increasing inequality and making the rich wealthier, with no beneficial effect on real GDP per capita or employment. According to the study, this shows that the tax cuts for the upper class did not trickle down to the broader economy.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2020-12-21 |title=Trickle-Down Economics Fails a Sophisticated Statistical Test |language=en |work=Bloomberg.com |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-21/trickle-down-economics-fails-a-sophisticated-statistical-test |access-date=2023-02-01 |archive-date=February 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230224165054/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-21/trickle-down-economics-fails-a-sophisticated-statistical-test |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Picchi |first=Aimee |date=December 17, 2020 |title=50 years of tax cuts for the rich failed to trickle down, economics study says |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tax-cuts-rich-50-years-no-trickle-down/ |access-date=2023-02-01 |website=CBS News |language=en-US |archive-date=February 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230201220351/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tax-cuts-rich-50-years-no-trickle-down/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Hope-2022" /><ref>{{cite news |author1=Christopher Ingraham |date=December 23, 2020 |orig-date= |title='Trickle-down' tax cuts make the rich richer but are of no value to overall economy, study finds |newspaper=] |place=Washington, D.C. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/12/23/tax-cuts-rich-trickle-down/ |issn=0190-8286 |oclc=1330888409 |access-date=October 3, 2022 |archive-date=August 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220819175439/https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/12/23/tax-cuts-rich-trickle-down/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
Line 73: Line 48:
suggests that lowering taxes on the top 20% could actually reduce growth.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Staff Discussion Notes Volume 2015 Issue 013: Causes and Consequences of Income Inequality: A Global Perspective (2015) |url=https://www.elibrary.imf.org/view/journals/006/2015/013/006.2015.issue-013-en.xml |access-date=2023-02-03 |website=imfsg |language=en |doi=10.5089/9781513555188.006 |archive-date=February 3, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230203050712/https://www.elibrary.imf.org/view/journals/006/2015/013/006.2015.issue-013-en.xml |url-status=live |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Goodwin |first=Neva R. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1111577770 |title=Principles of economics in context |date=2020 |isbn=978-0-429-43875-2 |edition=Second |location=New York, NY |oclc=1111577770}}</ref> suggests that lowering taxes on the top 20% could actually reduce growth.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Staff Discussion Notes Volume 2015 Issue 013: Causes and Consequences of Income Inequality: A Global Perspective (2015) |url=https://www.elibrary.imf.org/view/journals/006/2015/013/006.2015.issue-013-en.xml |access-date=2023-02-03 |website=imfsg |language=en |doi=10.5089/9781513555188.006 |archive-date=February 3, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230203050712/https://www.elibrary.imf.org/view/journals/006/2015/013/006.2015.issue-013-en.xml |url-status=live |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Goodwin |first=Neva R. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1111577770 |title=Principles of economics in context |date=2020 |isbn=978-0-429-43875-2 |edition=Second |location=New York, NY |oclc=1111577770}}</ref>


Political scientists Brainard Guy Peters and Maximilian Lennart Nagel in 2020 described the 'trickle down' description of tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations stimulating economic growth that helps the less affluent as a "zombie idea", and stated that it has been the most enduring failed policy idea in American politics.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Peters|first1=Brainard Guy|last2=Nagel|first2=Maximilian Lennart|date=2020|title=Zombie Ideas: Why Failed Policy Ideas Persist|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/elements/zombie-ideas/77F6FA03E416DB0E578213464BA1E860|access-date=November 28, 2020|website=Elements in Public Policy|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=8|language=en|doi=10.1017/9781108921312|isbn=9781108921312|s2cid=229422499|archive-date=December 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201227204017/https://www.cambridge.org/core/elements/zombie-ideas/77F6FA03E416DB0E578213464BA1E860|url-status=live}}</ref>
]'s economic theories have also been described as trickle-down.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Whyte |first=Jessica |date=2019 |title=The Invisible Hand of Friedrich Hayek: Submission and Spontaneous Order |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27126178 |journal=Political Theory |volume=47 |issue=2 |pages=156–184 |doi=10.1177/0090591717737064 |jstor=27126178 |issn=0090-5917 |access-date=February 2, 2023 |archive-date=February 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202032630/https://www.jstor.org/stable/27126178 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="griffiths">{{Cite web |date=2015-03-06 |title=Friedrich Hayek and the left: A response to Simon Griffiths |url=https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/hayek-and-the-left-a-response/ |access-date=2023-02-02 |website=British Politics and Policy at LSE |archive-date=February 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202032632/https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/hayek-and-the-left-a-response/ |url-status=live }}</ref>


Some studies suggest a link between trickle-down economics and reduced growth, and some newspapers concluded that trickle-down economics does not promote jobs or growth, and that "policy makers shouldn't worry that raising taxes on the rich ... will harm their economies".<ref name=nyt>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/12/business/12scene.html |title=In the Real World of Work and Wages, Trickle-Down Theories Don't Hold Up|date=April 12, 2007 |work=The New York Times |access-date=February 23, 2017 |archive-date=November 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112022156/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/12/business/12scene.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="bloomberg">{{cite web|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-16/fifty-years-of-tax-cuts-for-rich-didn-t-trickle-down-study-says|title=Fifty Years of Tax Cuts for Rich Didn't Trickle Down, Study Says|publisher=Bloomberg News|date=December 16, 2020|author=Craig Stirling|access-date=December 17, 2020|archive-date=December 17, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201217184756/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-16/fifty-years-of-tax-cuts-for-rich-didn-t-trickle-down-study-says|url-status=live}}</ref>
=== Politics ===
In the US, ] tax plans and policies are often labeled "trickle-down economics", including the ], the ] and the ].<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/11/19/trickle-down-economics-gets-new-life-republicans-push-tax-cut-plan/878702001/|title = Trickle-down economics gets new life as Republicans push tax-cut plan|website = ]|access-date = May 7, 2021|archive-date = May 9, 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210509061759/https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/11/19/trickle-down-economics-gets-new-life-republicans-push-tax-cut-plan/878702001/|url-status = live}}</ref> In each of the aforementioned tax reforms, taxes were cut across all income brackets, but the biggest reductions were given to the highest income earners,<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210517035259/https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/economics/reaganomics/ |date=May 17, 2021 }}, Corporate Finance Institute. Retrieved May 16, 2021.</ref> although the ] tax reforms also introduced the ] which has received bipartisan praise for poverty reduction and is largely why the bottom half of workers pay no federal income tax.<ref>Marr, Chuck (August 1, 2014). {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516182408/https://www.cbpp.org/blog/reagans-actions-made-him-a-true-eitc-champion |date=May 16, 2021 }}. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Retrieved May 16, 2021.</ref> Similarly, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 cut taxes across all income brackets, but especially favored the wealthy.<ref>Casselman, Ben and Jim Tankersley (April 14, 2019). {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210514005657/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/14/business/economy/income-tax-cut.html |date=May 14, 2021 }}. ''The New York Times''. Retrieved May 16, 2021.</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Cross and Reaganomics: Conservative Christians Defending Ronald Reagan|author=Crouse, Eric R.|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2013|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W-vkVdJPN4wC|page=31|isbn=9780739182222}}</ref>


=== Broader use ===
]'s former budget director, championed ] at first, but later became critical of them and told journalist ] that "supply-side economics" is the trickle-down idea:<ref name=atlantic-stockman> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201227204043/https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1981/12/the-education-of-david-stockman/305760/?single_page=true |date=December 27, 2020 }} by William Greider</ref><ref>William Greider. ''The Education of David Stockman''. {{ISBN|0-525-48010-2}}.</ref>
While the term "trickle-down" is commonly used to refer to income benefits, it is sometimes used to refer to the idea of ] arising from technological innovation or increased trade. ],<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/equalityefficien0000okun|url-access=registration|title=Equality and Efficiency, the Big Tradeoff|last=Okun|first=Arthur M.|date=1975|publisher=Brookings Institution|isbn=9780815764762|pages=–47|language=en}}</ref> and separately ],<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=REsy7T4EO8gC|title=The Microtheory of Innovative Entrepreneurship|last=Baumol|first=William J.|date=July 1, 2010|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=9781400835225|pages=80|language=en|access-date=September 17, 2020|archive-date=December 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201227204046/https://books.google.com/books?id=REsy7T4EO8gC|url-status=live}}</ref> for example, have used the term to refer to the flow of the benefits of innovation, which do not accrue entirely to the "great entrepreneurs and inventors", but trickle down to the masses. And Nobel laureate economist ] used the term in reference to the impact on wealth from tariff changes.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Romer|first=Paul|date=February 1, 1994|title=New goods, old theory, and the welfare costs of trade restrictions|journal=Journal of Development Economics|volume=43|issue=1|pages=5–38|doi=10.1016/0304-3878(94)90021-3|s2cid=28772407|issn=0304-3878|url=http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/294826/files/ipr064.pdf}}</ref>


Despite a lack of practical-use evidence for the ], it is often cited by proponents of trickle-down policy.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Art Laffer still thinks he was right about tax cuts |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/11/02/laffer-truss-trump-tax-cuts/ |access-date=2023-02-03 |issn=0190-8286 |archive-date=November 30, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221130213718/https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/11/02/laffer-truss-trump-tax-cuts/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="lis truss favours">{{Cite news |last=Elliott |first=Larry |date=2022-09-20 |title=Liz Truss favours trickle down economics but results can be trickle up |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/sep/20/liz-truss-favours-trickle-down-economics-but-results-can-be-trickle-up |access-date=2023-02-03 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=October 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221020125826/https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/sep/20/liz-truss-favours-trickle-down-economics-but-results-can-be-trickle-up |url-status=live }}</ref>
{{blockquote|It's kind of hard to sell 'trickle down,' so the supply-side formula was the only way to get a tax policy that was really 'trickle down.' Supply-side is 'trickle-down' theory.|David Stockman|'']''}}


In the US, ] tax plans and policies are often labeled "trickle-down economics", including the ], the ] and the ].<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/11/19/trickle-down-economics-gets-new-life-republicans-push-tax-cut-plan/878702001/|title = Trickle-down economics gets new life as Republicans push tax-cut plan|website = ]|access-date = May 7, 2021|archive-date = May 9, 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210509061759/https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/11/19/trickle-down-economics-gets-new-life-republicans-push-tax-cut-plan/878702001/|url-status = live}}</ref> In each of the aforementioned tax reforms, taxes were cut across all income brackets, but the biggest reductions were given to the highest income earners,<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210517035259/https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/economics/reaganomics/ |date=May 17, 2021 }}, Corporate Finance Institute. Retrieved May 16, 2021.</ref> although the ] tax reforms also introduced the ] which has received bipartisan praise for poverty reduction and is largely why the bottom half of workers pay no federal income tax.<ref>Marr, Chuck (August 1, 2014). {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516182408/https://www.cbpp.org/blog/reagans-actions-made-him-a-true-eitc-champion |date=May 16, 2021 }}. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Retrieved May 16, 2021.</ref> Similarly, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 cut taxes across all income brackets, but especially favored the wealthy.<ref>Casselman, Ben and Jim Tankersley (April 14, 2019). {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210514005657/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/14/business/economy/income-tax-cut.html |date=May 14, 2021 }}. ''The New York Times''. Retrieved May 16, 2021.</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Cross and Reaganomics: Conservative Christians Defending Ronald Reagan|author=Crouse, Eric R.|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2013|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W-vkVdJPN4wC|page=31|isbn=9780739182222}}</ref>
Political opponents of the ] soon seized on this language in an effort to brand the administration as caring only about the wealthy.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Thomas |first=Sowell |date=January 7, 2014 |title=The Trickle-Down Lie |url=https://www.nationalreview.com/2014/01/trickle-down-lie-thomas-sowell/ |website=National Review |access-date=May 24, 2022 |archive-date=May 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220524023321/https://www.nationalreview.com/2014/01/trickle-down-lie-thomas-sowell/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Some studies suggest a link between trickle-down economics and reduced growth, and some newspapers concluded that trickle-down economics does not promote jobs or growth, and that "policy makers shouldn't worry that raising taxes on the rich ... will harm their economies".<ref name=nyt>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/12/business/12scene.html |title=In the Real World of Work and Wages, Trickle-Down Theories Don't Hold Up|date=April 12, 2007 |work=The New York Times |access-date=February 23, 2017 |archive-date=November 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112022156/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/12/business/12scene.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="bloomberg">{{cite web|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-16/fifty-years-of-tax-cuts-for-rich-didn-t-trickle-down-study-says|title=Fifty Years of Tax Cuts for Rich Didn't Trickle Down, Study Says|publisher=Bloomberg News|date=December 16, 2020|author=Craig Stirling|access-date=December 17, 2020|archive-date=December 17, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201217184756/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-16/fifty-years-of-tax-cuts-for-rich-didn-t-trickle-down-study-says|url-status=live}}</ref>


While running against ] for the ], ] had derided the trickle-down approach as "voodoo economics".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wiseman |first=Paul |title=Trickle-down economics gets another try |url=https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2017/11/17/taxes-trickle-economics/107795832/ |access-date=2022-10-18 |website=The Detroit News |language=en-US |archive-date=October 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221018190311/https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2017/11/17/taxes-trickle-economics/107795832/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/270292.stm |title=Reagonomics or 'voodoo economics'? |work=BBC News |date=June 5, 2004 |access-date=January 4, 2012 |archive-date=August 29, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170829072015/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/270292.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> In the ], ] candidate ] also referred to trickle-down economics as "political voodoo".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1992/trickle-down|website=The Living Room Candidate |title=Commercials – 1992 – Trickle Down|language=en|access-date=March 13, 2017|archive-date=December 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201227204017/http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1992/trickle-down|url-status=live}}</ref> In the same election during a presidential town hall debate, ] said: In the ], ] candidate ] also referred to trickle-down economics as "political voodoo".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1992/trickle-down|website=The Living Room Candidate |title=Commercials – 1992 – Trickle Down|language=en|access-date=March 13, 2017|archive-date=December 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201227204017/http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1992/trickle-down|url-status=live}}</ref> In the same election during a presidential town hall debate, ] said:


{{blockquote|What I want you to understand is the national debt is not the only cause of . It is because America has not invested in its people. It is because we have not grown. It is because we've had 12 years of trickle-down economics. We've gone from first to twelfth in the world in wages. We've had four years where we’ve produced no private-sector jobs. Most people are working harder for less money than they were making 10 years ago.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/16/bill-clinton-debate_n_1971685.html|title=Bill Clinton Won 1992 Town Hall Debate By Engaging With One Voter|website=Huffington Post|date=October 16, 2012|language=en|access-date=2017-03-16|archive-date=December 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201227204052/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bill-clinton-debate_n_1971685|url-status=live}}</ref>}} {{blockquote|What I want you to understand is the national debt is not the only cause of . It is because America has not invested in its people. It is because we have not grown. It is because we've had 12 years of trickle-down economics. We've gone from first to twelfth in the world in wages. We've had four years where we’ve produced no private-sector jobs. Most people are working harder for less money than they were making 10 years ago.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/16/bill-clinton-debate_n_1971685.html|title=Bill Clinton Won 1992 Town Hall Debate By Engaging With One Voter|website=Huffington Post|date=October 16, 2012|language=en|access-date=2017-03-16|archive-date=December 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201227204052/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bill-clinton-debate_n_1971685|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

Speaking on the ] floor in 1992, ] (Republican senator for Colorado) said: "Mr. President, the trickle-down theory attributed to the Republican Party has never been articulated by President Reagan and has never been articulated by ] and has never been advocated by either one of them. One might argue whether trickle-down makes any sense or not. To attribute to people who have advocated the opposite in policies is not only inaccurate but poisons the debate on public issues."<ref>Hank Brown. '']'', March 24, 1992.</ref>


The political campaign group, ] has used the term referring broadly to wealth inequality in its criticisms of ].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2012/jul/21/offshore-wealth-global-economy-tax-havens|author=Heather Stewart|title=Wealth doesn't trickle down – it just floods offshore, research reveals|work=]|date=July 21, 2012|access-date=August 6, 2012|location=London|archive-date=November 2, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102004811/http://www.theguardian.com/business/2012/jul/21/offshore-wealth-global-economy-tax-havens|url-status=live}}</ref> The political campaign group, ] has used the term referring broadly to wealth inequality in its criticisms of ].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2012/jul/21/offshore-wealth-global-economy-tax-havens|author=Heather Stewart|title=Wealth doesn't trickle down – it just floods offshore, research reveals|work=]|date=July 21, 2012|access-date=August 6, 2012|location=London|archive-date=November 2, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102004811/http://www.theguardian.com/business/2012/jul/21/offshore-wealth-global-economy-tax-havens|url-status=live}}</ref>
Line 99: Line 72:


A Columbia journal article comparing a failed UK ] proposal to later US proposals references them as a form of trickle-down policy where lower regulatory and tax burdens were aimed at wealthier developers with the hope they would benefit residents.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jordan |first=Bre |date=2020-02-27 |title=DENOUNCING THE MYTH OF PLACE-BASED SUBSIDIES AS THE SOLUTION FOR ECONOMICALLY DISTRESSED COMMUNITIES: AN ANALYSIS OF OPPORTUNITY ZONES AS A SUBSIDY FOR LOW-INCOME DISPLACEMENT |url=https://journals.library.columbia.edu/index.php/cjrl/article/view/4840 |journal=Columbia Journal of Race and Law |language=en |volume=10 |issue=1 |doi=10.7916/cjrl.v10i1.4840 |issn=2155-2401 |access-date=February 1, 2023 |archive-date=February 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230201182230/https://journals.library.columbia.edu/index.php/cjrl/article/view/4840 |url-status=live }}</ref> A Columbia journal article comparing a failed UK ] proposal to later US proposals references them as a form of trickle-down policy where lower regulatory and tax burdens were aimed at wealthier developers with the hope they would benefit residents.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jordan |first=Bre |date=2020-02-27 |title=DENOUNCING THE MYTH OF PLACE-BASED SUBSIDIES AS THE SOLUTION FOR ECONOMICALLY DISTRESSED COMMUNITIES: AN ANALYSIS OF OPPORTUNITY ZONES AS A SUBSIDY FOR LOW-INCOME DISPLACEMENT |url=https://journals.library.columbia.edu/index.php/cjrl/article/view/4840 |journal=Columbia Journal of Race and Law |language=en |volume=10 |issue=1 |doi=10.7916/cjrl.v10i1.4840 |issn=2155-2401 |access-date=February 1, 2023 |archive-date=February 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230201182230/https://journals.library.columbia.edu/index.php/cjrl/article/view/4840 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Nobel laureate ] states that despite the narrative of trickle-down style tax cuts, the effective tax rate of the top 1% of earners has failed to change very much.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-08-20 |title=The Political Failure of Trickle-Down Economics |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2017/08/20/the-political-failure-of-trickle-down-economics/ |access-date=2023-02-01 |website=Paul Krugman Blog |language=en |archive-date=February 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230201222323/https://archive.nytimes.com/krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2017/08/20/the-political-failure-of-trickle-down-economics/ |url-status=live }}</ref>


Political commentator ] has implicated institutions such as ], ], and ] for promoting what he considers to be a discredited idea.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-10-09 |title=Why is trickle-down economics still with us? {{!}} Robert Reich |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/oct/09/why-is-trickle-down-economics-still-with-us |access-date=2023-02-01 |website=the Guardian |language=en |archive-date=January 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230120031658/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/oct/09/why-is-trickle-down-economics-still-with-us |url-status=live }}</ref> Political commentator ] has implicated institutions such as ], ], and ] for promoting what he considers to be a discredited idea.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-10-09 |title=Why is trickle-down economics still with us? {{!}} Robert Reich |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/oct/09/why-is-trickle-down-economics-still-with-us |access-date=2023-02-01 |website=the Guardian |language=en |archive-date=January 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230120031658/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/oct/09/why-is-trickle-down-economics-still-with-us |url-status=live }}</ref>


Kansas governor and politician ]'s 2018 tax cut package was widely labelled as an attempt at trickle-down economics.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-04-27 |title=After tax cuts many saw as a failure, Kansas may cut again |url=https://apnews.com/article/3d97692e048f4de9b9faef23c9146345 |access-date=2023-02-01 |website=AP NEWS |language=en |archive-date=February 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230201221052/https://apnews.com/article/3d97692e048f4de9b9faef23c9146345 |url-status=live }}</ref> Kansas governor and politician ]'s 2018 tax cut package was widely labelled as an attempt at trickle-down economics.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-04-27 |title=After tax cuts many saw as a failure, Kansas may cut again |url=https://apnews.com/article/3d97692e048f4de9b9faef23c9146345 |access-date=2023-02-01 |website=AP NEWS |language=en |archive-date=February 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230201221052/https://apnews.com/article/3d97692e048f4de9b9faef23c9146345 |url-status=live }}</ref>

]'s economic theories have also been described as trickle-down.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Whyte |first=Jessica |date=2019 |title=The Invisible Hand of Friedrich Hayek: Submission and Spontaneous Order |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27126178 |journal=Political Theory |volume=47 |issue=2 |pages=156–184 |doi=10.1177/0090591717737064 |jstor=27126178 |issn=0090-5917 |access-date=February 2, 2023 |archive-date=February 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202032630/https://www.jstor.org/stable/27126178 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="griffiths">{{Cite web |date=2015-03-06 |title=Friedrich Hayek and the left: A response to Simon Griffiths |url=https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/hayek-and-the-left-a-response/ |access-date=2023-02-02 |website=British Politics and Policy at LSE |archive-date=February 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202032632/https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/hayek-and-the-left-a-response/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Objections to the term ===
Speaking on the ] floor in 1992, ] (Republican senator for Colorado) said: "Mr. President, the trickle-down theory attributed to the Republican Party has never been articulated by President Reagan and has never been articulated by ] and has never been advocated by either one of them. One might argue whether trickle-down makes any sense or not. To attribute to people who have advocated the opposite in policies is not only inaccurate but poisons the debate on public issues."<ref>Hank Brown. '']'', March 24, 1992.</ref>

] consistently argues that trickle-down economics has never been advocated by any economist, writing in his 2012 book ''"Trickle Down" Theory and "Tax Cuts for the Rich"'':

{{blockquote|
Let's do something completely unexpected: Let's stop and think. Why would
anyone advocate that we "give" something to A in hopes that it would trickle
down to B? Why in the world would any sane person not give it to B and cut
out the middleman? But all this is moot, because there was no trickle-down
theory about giving something to anybody in the first place.

The "trickle-down" theory cannot be found in even the most voluminous scholarly studies of economic theories - including [[Joseph Schumpeter|J. A.
Schumpeter]]'s monumental ''History of Economic Analysis'', more than a thousand pages long and printed in very small type.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.hoover.org/sites/default/files/uploads/documents/Sowell_TrickleDown_FINAL.pdf|title="Trickle Down" Theory and "Tax Cuts for the Rich"|last=Sowell|first=Thomas|date=2012|publisher=Hoover Institution Press|isbn=9780817916152|pages=1–2|language=en|access-date=September 6, 2022|archive-date=October 6, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221006121923/https://www.hoover.org/sites/default/files/uploads/documents/Sowell_TrickleDown_FINAL.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

Sowell has also written extensively on ] and opposes its characterization firmly, citing that it has never claimed to work in a "trickle-down" fashion. Rather, the economic theory of reducing marginal tax rates works in precisely the opposite direction: "Workers are always paid first and then profits flow upward later – if at all."<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.creators.com/read/thomas-sowell/01/14/the-trickle-down-lie |title=The 'Trickle-Down' Lie |first=Thomas |last=Sowell |date=January 7, 2014 |access-date=December 1, 2020 |archive-date=December 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201227204020/https://www.creators.com/read/thomas-sowell/01/14/the-trickle-down-lie |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120924180805/http://tsowell.com/images/Hoover%20Proof.pdf |date=September 24, 2012 }}.</ref>

In 2022, the ] administration objected to characterizing its policies as "trickle-down economics".<ref>{{cite web | last=Mason | first=Rowena | title=‘No way’ Truss’s policies are trickle-down economics, says minister | website=the Guardian | date=2022-09-21 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/sep/21/no-way-trusss-policies-are-trickle-down-economics-says-minister | access-date=2024-01-02}}</ref>


== See also == == See also ==

Revision as of 04:00, 2 January 2024

Economic and political term This article is about the political term. For the marketing phenomenon, see trickle-down effect.

This article contains too many or overly lengthy quotations. Please help summarize the quotations. Consider transferring direct quotations to Wikiquote or excerpts to Wikisource. (January 2024)
Ronald Reagan's economic policies, dubbed "Reaganomics" by opponents, included large tax cuts and were characterized as trickle-down economics. In this picture, he is outlining his plan for the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 from the Oval Office in a televised address, July 1981.
Part of a series on
Economics
Branches and classifications
Concepts, theory and techniques
By application
Notable economists
Lists
Part of the politics series on
Neoliberalism
Ideas
Economics
Movements
Governance
Organizations
People
Related topics

Trickle-down economics is a generally critical term for supply-side economics, criticizing such policies as favoring wealthy individuals and large corporations. In the "trickle down" description, wealthy individuals directly benefit from supply-side style tax cuts, leaving only the leftover wealth to "trickle down" to those less fortunate. The term has been used broadly by critics of supply-side economics to refer to taxing and spending policies by governments that, intentionally or not, result in widening income inequality; it has also been used in critical references to neoliberalism. While economists who favor supply-side economics generally avoid the "trickle down" analogy and dispute the focus on tax cuts to the rich, the phrase "trickle down" has also been occasionally used by proponents of such policies.

Similar criticisms have existed since at least the 19th century, though the term "trickle-down economics" was popularized in the U.S. in reference to the economic policies of Ronald Reagan. Major examples of what critics have called "trickle-down economics" in the U.S. include the Reagan tax cuts, the Bush tax cuts, and the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. Major UK examples include Liz Truss's mini-budget tax cuts of 2022. As of 2023, studies have not shown that there is a demonstrable link between reducing tax burdens on the upper end and economic growth.

History

Background

William Jennings Bryan, who criticized trickle-down theory in his Cross of Gold speech in 1896

The Google Ngram Viewer shows that the term "trickle down economics" was rarely seen in published works until the 1980s. However, the concept that economic prosperity in the upper classes flows down into the lower classes is at least 100 years old. The term itself is used mostly by critics of the concept. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary notes that the first known use of "trickle-down" as an adjective meaning "relating to or working on the principle of trickle-down theory" was in 1944 while the first known use of "trickle-down theory" was in 1954.

In 1896, United States Democratic presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan described the concept using the metaphor of a "leak" in his Cross of Gold speech:

There are two ideas of government. There are those who believe that if you just legislate to make the well-to-do prosperous, that their prosperity will leak through on those below. The Democratic idea has been that if you legislate to make the masses prosperous their prosperity will find its way up and through every class that rests upon it.

William J. Bennett credits humorist and social commentator Will Rogers for coining the term and noted in 2007 its persistent use throughout the decades since. In a 1932 column criticizing Herbert Hoover's policies and approach to The Great Depression Rogers wrote:

This election was lost four and six years ago, not this year. They didn't start thinking of the old common fellow till just as they started out on the election tour. The money was all appropriated for the top in the hopes that it would trickle down to the needy. Mr. Hoover was an engineer. He knew that water trickles down. Put it uphill and let it go and it will reach the driest little spot. But he didn't know that money trickled up. Give it to the people at the bottom and the people at the top will have it before night, anyhow. But it will at least have passed through the poor fellow's hands. They saved the big banks, but the little ones went up the flue.

In 1933, Indian nationalist and statesman Jawaharlal Nehru wrote positively of the term (in the sense that wealth entered upper classes then "trickled down") in critical reference to the colonial seizing of wealth in India and other territories being a cause of increased the wealth in England:

The exploitation of India and other countries brought so much wealth to England that some of it trickled down to the working class and their standard of living rose."

After leaving the presidency, Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson alleged "Republicans ... simply don't know how to manage the economy. They're so busy operating the trickle-down theory, giving the richest corporations the biggest break, that the whole thing goes to hell in a handbasket."

Presidential speechwriter Samuel Rosenman wrote in 2008 that "trickle down policies" had been prevalent in American government since 1921.

Reagan years

Ronald Reagan launched his 1980 campaign for the presidency on a platform advocating for supply-side economics. During the Presidential nomination in 1980, George H. W. Bush had derided Reagan's economic approach as "voodoo economics". Following Reagan's election, the "trickle-down" reached wide circulation with the publication of "The Education of David Stockman" a December 1981 interview of Office of Management and Budget director David Stockman, in the magazine Atlantic Monthly. In the interview, Stockman was sharply critical of supply side economics, telling journalist William Greider that the Kemp–Roth Tax Cut was a way to rebrand a tax cut for the top income bracket to make it easier to pass into law:

It's kind of hard to sell 'trickle down,' so the supply-side formula was the only way to get a tax policy that was really 'trickle down.' Supply-side is 'trickle-down' theory.

— David Stockman, The Atlantic

Political opponents of the Reagan administration soon seized on this language in an effort to brand the administration as caring only about the wealthy. In 1982, John Kenneth Galbraith wrote the "trickle-down economics" that that David Stockman was referring to was previously known under the name "horse-and-sparrow theory", the idea that feeding a horse a huge amount of oats will result in some of the feed passing through for lucky sparrows to eat. Reagan administration officials including Michael Deaver wanted Stockman to be fired in response to his comments, but he was ultimately kept on in exchange for a private apology.

Usage

Economic analyses of the effects of lowering taxes on the wealthy

Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz wrote in 2015 that the post-World War II evidence does not support trickle-down economics, but rather "trickle-up economics" whereby more money in the pockets of the poor or the middle benefits everyone.

In a 2020 research paper, economists David Hope and Julian Limberg analyzed data spanning 50 years from 18 countries, and found that tax cuts for the rich only succeeded at increasing inequality and making the rich wealthier, with no beneficial effect on real GDP per capita or employment. According to the study, this shows that the tax cuts for the upper class did not trickle down to the broader economy.

A 2015 IMF staff discussion note by Era Dabla-Norris, Kalpana Kochhar, Nujin Suphaphiphat, Frantisek Ricka and Evridiki Tsounta suggests that lowering taxes on the top 20% could actually reduce growth.

Political scientists Brainard Guy Peters and Maximilian Lennart Nagel in 2020 described the 'trickle down' description of tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations stimulating economic growth that helps the less affluent as a "zombie idea", and stated that it has been the most enduring failed policy idea in American politics.

Some studies suggest a link between trickle-down economics and reduced growth, and some newspapers concluded that trickle-down economics does not promote jobs or growth, and that "policy makers shouldn't worry that raising taxes on the rich ... will harm their economies".

Broader use

While the term "trickle-down" is commonly used to refer to income benefits, it is sometimes used to refer to the idea of positive externalities arising from technological innovation or increased trade. Arthur Okun, and separately William Baumol, for example, have used the term to refer to the flow of the benefits of innovation, which do not accrue entirely to the "great entrepreneurs and inventors", but trickle down to the masses. And Nobel laureate economist Paul Romer used the term in reference to the impact on wealth from tariff changes.

Despite a lack of practical-use evidence for the Laffer curve, it is often cited by proponents of trickle-down policy.

In the US, Republican tax plans and policies are often labeled "trickle-down economics", including the Reagan tax cuts, the Bush tax cuts and the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. In each of the aforementioned tax reforms, taxes were cut across all income brackets, but the biggest reductions were given to the highest income earners, although the Reagan Era tax reforms also introduced the earned income tax credit which has received bipartisan praise for poverty reduction and is largely why the bottom half of workers pay no federal income tax. Similarly, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 cut taxes across all income brackets, but especially favored the wealthy.

In the 1992 presidential election, independent candidate Ross Perot also referred to trickle-down economics as "political voodoo". In the same election during a presidential town hall debate, Bill Clinton said:

What I want you to understand is the national debt is not the only cause of . It is because America has not invested in its people. It is because we have not grown. It is because we've had 12 years of trickle-down economics. We've gone from first to twelfth in the world in wages. We've had four years where we’ve produced no private-sector jobs. Most people are working harder for less money than they were making 10 years ago.

The political campaign group, Tax Justice Network has used the term referring broadly to wealth inequality in its criticisms of tax havens.

In 2013, Pope Francis referred to "trickle-down theories" in his apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium with the following statement (No. 54):

Some people continue to defend trickle-down theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world. This opinion, which has never been confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and naïve trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacralized workings of the prevailing economic system.

In New Zealand, Damien O'Connor, an MP from the Labour Party, called trickle-down economics "the rich pissing on the poor" in the Labour Party campaign launch video for the 2011 general election. In a 2016 presidential candidates debate, Hillary Clinton accused Donald Trump of supporting the "most extreme" version of trickle-down economics with his tax plan, calling it "trumped-up trickle-down" as a pun on his name. In his speech to a joint session of Congress on April 28, 2021, US President Joe Biden stated that "trickle-down economics has never worked". Biden has continued to be critical of trickle-down.

A Columbia journal article comparing a failed UK Enterprise Zone proposal to later US proposals references them as a form of trickle-down policy where lower regulatory and tax burdens were aimed at wealthier developers with the hope they would benefit residents.

Nobel laureate Paul Krugman states that despite the narrative of trickle-down style tax cuts, the effective tax rate of the top 1% of earners has failed to change very much.

Political commentator Robert Reich has implicated institutions such as The Heritage Foundation, Cato Institute, and Club for Growth for promoting what he considers to be a discredited idea.

Kansas governor and politician Sam Brownback's 2018 tax cut package was widely labelled as an attempt at trickle-down economics.

Friedrich Hayek's economic theories have also been described as trickle-down.

Objections to the term

Speaking on the Senate floor in 1992, Hank Brown (Republican senator for Colorado) said: "Mr. President, the trickle-down theory attributed to the Republican Party has never been articulated by President Reagan and has never been articulated by President Bush and has never been advocated by either one of them. One might argue whether trickle-down makes any sense or not. To attribute to people who have advocated the opposite in policies is not only inaccurate but poisons the debate on public issues."

Thomas Sowell consistently argues that trickle-down economics has never been advocated by any economist, writing in his 2012 book "Trickle Down" Theory and "Tax Cuts for the Rich":

Let's do something completely unexpected: Let's stop and think. Why would anyone advocate that we "give" something to A in hopes that it would trickle down to B? Why in the world would any sane person not give it to B and cut out the middleman? But all this is moot, because there was no trickle-down theory about giving something to anybody in the first place.

The "trickle-down" theory cannot be found in even the most voluminous scholarly studies of economic theories - including J. A. Schumpeter's monumental History of Economic Analysis, more than a thousand pages long and printed in very small type.

Sowell has also written extensively on supply-side economics and opposes its characterization firmly, citing that it has never claimed to work in a "trickle-down" fashion. Rather, the economic theory of reducing marginal tax rates works in precisely the opposite direction: "Workers are always paid first and then profits flow upward later – if at all."

In 2022, the Liz Truss administration objected to characterizing its policies as "trickle-down economics".

See also

References

  1. ^ Noah, Timothy (September 21, 2011). "New Republic: How Did Trickle-Down Get Acceptable?". NPR. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  2. "Derided by critics, trickle-down economics gets another try". AP News. November 17, 2017. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  3. ^ Lockwood, Benjamin; Gomes, Joao; Smetters, Kent; Inman, Robert. "Does Trickle-down Economics Add Up – or Is It a Drop in the Bucket?". Knowledge at Wharton. A business journal from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Archived from the original on February 1, 2023. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
  4. Springer, Simon; Birch, Kean; MacLeavy, Julie (July 7, 2016). Handbook of Neoliberalism. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-54966-6.
  5. Harwood, John (November 9, 2017). "Gary Cohn: Trickle-down is good for the economy". CNBC. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  6. Redenius, Charles (April 1983). "Thatcherism and Reagonomics: Supply-Side Economic Policy in Great Britain and the United States". Journal of Political Science. 10 (2, Article 4). The Athenaeum Press. ISSN 0098-4612. Archived from the original on December 2, 2022. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
  7. "The Bush Tax Cuts Disproportionately Benefitted the Wealthy". Economic Policy Institute. Archived from the original on February 1, 2023. Retrieved February 1, 2023. The Bush-era tax cuts were designed to reduce taxes for the wealthy, and the benefits of faster growth were then supposed to trickle down to the middle class.
  8. "Trickle-down economics gets new life as Republicans push tax-cut plan". USA Today. Archived from the original on May 9, 2021. Retrieved May 7, 2021. Behind is a theory long popular among conservatives: Slash taxes for corporations and rich people, who will then hire, invest and profit — and cause money to trickle into the pockets of ordinary Americans.
  9. ^ Elliott, Larry (September 20, 2022). "Liz Truss favours trickle down economics but results can be trickle up". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on October 20, 2022. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
  10. Aghion, Philippe; Bolton, Patrick (April 1997). "A Theory of Trickle-Down Growth and Development". The Review of Economic Studies. 64 (2): 151. doi:10.2307/2971707. ISSN 0034-6527. JSTOR 2971707.
  11. ^ Hope, David; Limberg, Julian (January 7, 2022). "The economic consequences of major tax cuts for the rich". Socio-Economic Review. 20 (2): 539–559. doi:10.1093/ser/mwab061. ISSN 1475-1461.
  12. Arndt, H. W. (1983). "The "Trickle-down" Myth". Economic Development and Cultural Change. 32 (1): 1–10. doi:10.1086/451369. ISSN 0013-0079. JSTOR 1153421. S2CID 153842242.
  13. "Trickle down economics". Google Books Ngram Viewer. Archived from the original on February 3, 2023. Retrieved February 7, 2023.
  14. "trickle-down". Merriam-Webster (online edition). Archived April 10, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. Accessed September 17, 2010.
  15. "trickle-down theory". Merriam-Webster (online edition). Archived April 10, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. Accessed September 17, 2010.
  16. Wilson, Thomas Frederick. 1992. The Power "to Coin" Money: The Exercise of Monetary Powers by the Congress Archived March 11, 2023, at the Wayback Machine. Armonk, New York: M. E. Sharpe. p. 172. ISBN 0873327942
  17. Baker, Andrew, David Hudson, and Richard Woodward. 2005. Governing Financial Globalization: International Political Economy and Multi-Level Governance Archived March 11, 2023, at the Wayback Machine. London; New York: Routledge. p. 26. ISBN 9780203479278.
  18. "Bryan's 'Cross of Gold' Speech: Mesmerizing the Masses", Archived September 27, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, historymatters.com
  19. Bennett, William J. (2007). America: The Last Best Hope. Harper Collins. p. 78. ISBN 978-1595551115. Archived from the original on March 11, 2023. Retrieved February 18, 2023. Will Rogers referred to the theory that cutting taxes for higher earners and businesses was a "trickle-down" policy, a term that has stuck over the years.
  20. Roger, Will (November 26, 1932). "Will Rogers Explains That Money, Unlike Water, Always Trickles Up". The St. Louis Star and Times. Archived from the original on July 7, 2022. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  21. The "Trickle-Down" Myth, H.W. Arndt, Economic Development and Cultural Change, Oct., 1983, Vol. 32, No. 1 (Oct., 1983), pp. 1-10, UCP, https://www.jstor.org/stable/1153421 Archived October 10, 2022, at the Wayback Machine
  22. Janos, Leo (July 1973). "The Last Days of the President". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on July 1, 2013. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
  23. Shlaes, Amity (May 27, 2008). The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression. Harper Perennial. p. 128. ISBN 9780060936426. Archived from the original on March 3, 2021. Retrieved September 6, 2022. The philosophy that had prevailed in Washington since 1921, that the object of government was to provide prosperity for those who lived and worked at the top of the economic pyramid, in the belief that prosperity would trickle down to the bottom of the heap and benefit all.
  24. Wiseman, Paul. "Trickle-down economics gets another try". The Detroit News. Archived from the original on October 18, 2022. Retrieved October 18, 2022.
  25. "Reagonomics or 'voodoo economics'?". BBC News. June 5, 2004. Archived from the original on August 29, 2017. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  26. "The Education of David Stockman" Archived December 27, 2020, at the Wayback Machine by William Greider
  27. William Greider. The Education of David Stockman. ISBN 0-525-48010-2.
  28. Thomas, Sowell (January 7, 2014). "The Trickle-Down Lie". National Review. Archived from the original on May 24, 2022. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
  29. Galbraith, John Kenneth (February 4, 1982) "Recession Economics". Archived December 27, 2020, at the Wayback Machine. New York Review of Books Volume 29, Number 1.
  30. "David Stockman's famous trip to the woodshed was prompted..." UPI. April 12, 1986. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  31. Stiglitz, Joseph E. (December 2015). "8. Inequality and Economic Growth". The Political Quarterly. 86: 134–155. doi:10.1111/1467-923X.12237. Archived from the original on February 1, 2023. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
  32. "Trickle-Down Economics Fails a Sophisticated Statistical Test". Bloomberg.com. December 21, 2020. Archived from the original on February 24, 2023. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
  33. Picchi, Aimee (December 17, 2020). "50 years of tax cuts for the rich failed to trickle down, economics study says". CBS News. Archived from the original on February 1, 2023. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
  34. Christopher Ingraham (December 23, 2020). "'Trickle-down' tax cuts make the rich richer but are of no value to overall economy, study finds". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. ISSN 0190-8286. OCLC 1330888409. Archived from the original on August 19, 2022. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
  35. "Staff Discussion Notes Volume 2015 Issue 013: Causes and Consequences of Income Inequality: A Global Perspective (2015)". imfsg. doi:10.5089/9781513555188.006. Archived from the original on February 3, 2023. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
  36. Goodwin, Neva R. (2020). Principles of economics in context (Second ed.). New York, NY. ISBN 978-0-429-43875-2. OCLC 1111577770.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  37. Peters, Brainard Guy; Nagel, Maximilian Lennart (2020). Zombie Ideas: Why Failed Policy Ideas Persist. Cambridge University Press. p. 8. doi:10.1017/9781108921312. ISBN 9781108921312. S2CID 229422499. Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. Retrieved November 28, 2020. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  38. "In the Real World of Work and Wages, Trickle-Down Theories Don't Hold Up". The New York Times. April 12, 2007. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  39. Craig Stirling (December 16, 2020). "Fifty Years of Tax Cuts for Rich Didn't Trickle Down, Study Says". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on December 17, 2020. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
  40. Okun, Arthur M. (1975). Equality and Efficiency, the Big Tradeoff. Brookings Institution. pp. 46–47. ISBN 9780815764762.
  41. Baumol, William J. (July 1, 2010). The Microtheory of Innovative Entrepreneurship. Princeton University Press. p. 80. ISBN 9781400835225. Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  42. Romer, Paul (February 1, 1994). "New goods, old theory, and the welfare costs of trade restrictions" (PDF). Journal of Development Economics. 43 (1): 5–38. doi:10.1016/0304-3878(94)90021-3. ISSN 0304-3878. S2CID 28772407.
  43. "Art Laffer still thinks he was right about tax cuts". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on November 30, 2022. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
  44. "Trickle-down economics gets new life as Republicans push tax-cut plan". USA Today. Archived from the original on May 9, 2021. Retrieved May 7, 2021.
  45. "Reaganomics" Archived May 17, 2021, at the Wayback Machine, Corporate Finance Institute. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
  46. Marr, Chuck (August 1, 2014). "Reagan’s Actions Made Him a True EITC Champion" Archived May 16, 2021, at the Wayback Machine. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
  47. Casselman, Ben and Jim Tankersley (April 14, 2019). "Face It: You (Probably) Got a Tax Cut" Archived May 14, 2021, at the Wayback Machine. The New York Times. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
  48. Crouse, Eric R. (2013). The Cross and Reaganomics: Conservative Christians Defending Ronald Reagan. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 31. ISBN 9780739182222.
  49. "Commercials – 1992 – Trickle Down". The Living Room Candidate. Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  50. "Bill Clinton Won 1992 Town Hall Debate By Engaging With One Voter". Huffington Post. October 16, 2012. Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
  51. Heather Stewart (July 21, 2012). "Wealth doesn't trickle down – it just floods offshore, research reveals". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on November 2, 2013. Retrieved August 6, 2012.
  52. "Evangelii Gaudium: Apostolic Exhortation on the Proclamation of the Gospel in Today's World". Holy See. Archived from the original on August 11, 2015. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
  53. Chapman, Kate (October 28, 2011). "Labour campaign video harks back to history". Stuff.co.nz. Archived from the original on December 28, 2017. Retrieved October 5, 2016.
  54. Pramuk, Jacob (September 26, 2016). "Clinton: Trump would cut taxes for the rich in 'trumped up' trickle down economics". CNBC. Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. Retrieved September 17, 2017.
  55. "Biden: 'Trickle-down economics has never worked'". April 28, 2021. Archived from the original on April 29, 2021. Retrieved April 29, 2021.
  56. "Biden Criticizes 'Mega-MAGA Trickle-Down Economics'". WSJ. Archived from the original on November 3, 2022. Retrieved November 3, 2022.
  57. "Video 'I'm so sick and tired of trickle-down economics': Biden". ABC News. Archived from the original on November 3, 2022. Retrieved November 3, 2022.
  58. Jordan, Bre (February 27, 2020). "DENOUNCING THE MYTH OF PLACE-BASED SUBSIDIES AS THE SOLUTION FOR ECONOMICALLY DISTRESSED COMMUNITIES: AN ANALYSIS OF OPPORTUNITY ZONES AS A SUBSIDY FOR LOW-INCOME DISPLACEMENT". Columbia Journal of Race and Law. 10 (1). doi:10.7916/cjrl.v10i1.4840. ISSN 2155-2401. Archived from the original on February 1, 2023. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
  59. "The Political Failure of Trickle-Down Economics". Paul Krugman Blog. August 20, 2017. Archived from the original on February 1, 2023. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
  60. "Why is trickle-down economics still with us? | Robert Reich". the Guardian. October 9, 2022. Archived from the original on January 20, 2023. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
  61. "After tax cuts many saw as a failure, Kansas may cut again". AP NEWS. April 27, 2018. Archived from the original on February 1, 2023. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
  62. Whyte, Jessica (2019). "The Invisible Hand of Friedrich Hayek: Submission and Spontaneous Order". Political Theory. 47 (2): 156–184. doi:10.1177/0090591717737064. ISSN 0090-5917. JSTOR 27126178. Archived from the original on February 2, 2023. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
  63. "Friedrich Hayek and the left: A response to Simon Griffiths". British Politics and Policy at LSE. March 6, 2015. Archived from the original on February 2, 2023. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
  64. Hank Brown. Congressional Record, March 24, 1992.
  65. Sowell, Thomas (2012). "Trickle Down" Theory and "Tax Cuts for the Rich" (PDF). Hoover Institution Press. pp. 1–2. ISBN 9780817916152. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 6, 2022. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
  66. Sowell, Thomas (January 7, 2014). "The 'Trickle-Down' Lie". Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  67. "'Trickle Down' Theory and 'Tax Cuts for the Rich'". Archived September 24, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
  68. Mason, Rowena (September 21, 2022). "'No way' Truss's policies are trickle-down economics, says minister". the Guardian. Retrieved January 2, 2024.

Further reading

External links

Categories: