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{{Short description|Pejorative economic and political term}} | ||
{{about|the political term|the marketing phenomenon|trickle-down effect}} | |||
{{use mdy dates|date=January 2021}} | {{use mdy dates|date=January 2021}} | ||
]'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''' is a pejorative term for government economic policies deemed to disproportionately favor the upper tier of the ] (wealthy individuals and large corporations) under the belief that this will eventually benefit the economy as a whole. The principle is founded on the idea that spending by this group "trickles down" to those less fortunate in the form of stronger economic growth.<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 ] 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> | ||
⚫ | 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 supply-side economics and ].<ref name="Noah2011">{{cite web |last=Noah |first=Timothy |date=2011-09-21 |title=New Republic: How Did Trickle-Down Get Acceptable? |url=https://www.npr.org/2011/09/21/140662014/new-republic-how-did-trickle-down-get-acceptable |access-date= |website=]}}</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" /> While economists who favor supply-side economics generally avoid applying the "trickle down" analogy to it 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> 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=] |volume=64 |issue=2 |pages=151 |doi=10.2307/2971707 |issn=0034-6527 |jstor=2971707}}</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 |journal=] |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=] |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=1–10 |doi=10.1086/451369 |issn=0013-0079 |jstor=1153421 |s2cid=153842242}}</ref> | ||
⚫ | '''Trickle-down economics''' |
||
⚫ | 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" /> | ||
== 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|] |
||
{{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 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>}} ] traced the origin of the term to this speech.<ref>{{cite book| last = Safire | first = William | author-link = William Safire | year = 2008 | title = Safire's Political Dictionary | edition = Revised | publisher = Oxford University Press | location = New York | isbn = 978-0-19-534334-2 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=c4UoX6-Sv1AC&q=cross+of+gold | access-date = December 27, 2011|pages=752–753}}</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: | ||
{{blockquote|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.<ref name="Rogers_11/26/1932">{{Cite news |last=Roger |first=Will |date=November 26, 1932 |title=Will Rogers Explains That Money, Unlike Water, Always Trickles Up |work=] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105123031/trickle-down-economics-origin/ |access-date=July 7, 2022 |archive-date=July 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220707053712/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105123031/trickle-down-economics-origin/ |url-status=live }}</ref>}} | {{blockquote|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.<ref name="Rogers_11/26/1932">{{Cite news |last=Roger |first=Will |date=November 26, 1932 |title=Will Rogers Explains That Money, Unlike Water, Always Trickles Up |work=] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105123031/trickle-down-economics-origin/ |access-date=July 7, 2022 |archive-date=July 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220707053712/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105123031/trickle-down-economics-origin/ |url-status=live }}</ref>}} | ||
In 1933, Indian nationalist and statesman ] 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 |
In 1933, Indian nationalist and statesman ] 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 wealth in England: | ||
{{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> | ||
Presidential speechwriter ] wrote |
Presidential speechwriter ] wrote 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 |
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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 Reagan's incoming ] director ], in the magazine ]. In the interview, Stockman expressed doubts about ], 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 /> Stockman said that "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."<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><ref>{{cite journal|last=White|first=Michael|title=Creative statistics: the Laffer Curve and taxation incentives.|journal=Journal of Australian Political Economy, the|issue=14|date=1983|pages=63–76}}</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 ] was referring to was previously known under the name "horse-and-sparrow theory", the idea that feeding a horse a huge amount of oats results 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> | |||
== Usage == | == Usage == | ||
===Economic analyses of the effects of lowering taxes on the wealthy=== | |||
⚫ | 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> | ||
⚫ | === |
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] 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 |
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] 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> | |||
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> | ||
⚫ | 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 succeeded only 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> | ||
⚫ | Nobel laureate ] |
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⚫ | 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 |
||
A 2015 IMF staff discussion note by Era Dabla-Norris, Kalpana Kochhar, Nujin Suphaphiphat, Frantisek Ricka and Evridiki Tsounta | 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.<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 }}</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|series=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 journal|first1=Jamie|last1=Morgan|title=A critique of the Laffer theorem's macro-narrative consequences for corporate tax avoidance from a Global Wealth Chain perspective|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14747731.2020.1760420|journal=Globalizations|date=17 February 2021|issn=1474-7731|pages=174–194|volume=18|issue=2|doi=10.1080/14747731.2020.1760420|bibcode=2021Glob...18..174M }}</ref><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> | ||
⚫ | |||
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, ] blamed trickle-down economics for the declining economic conditions in America, saying that "...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 |date=2012-10-16 |title=How Bill Clinton Engaged With One Voter To Win 1992 Town Hall Debate |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bill-clinton-debate_n_1971685 |access-date=2024-07-30 |website=HuffPost |language=en}}</ref> | |||
While running against ] for the ], ] had derided the trickle-down approach as "voodoo economics".<ref name=":1">{{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: | |||
{{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> | ||
⚫ | In 2013, ] condemned "trickle-down theories" in his ] {{lang|la|]}}, saying that "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 ] and in the sacralized workings of the prevailing economic system."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/content/Francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20131124_evangelii-Gaudium.html#No_to_an_economy_of_exclusion|title=Evangelii Gaudium: Apostolic Exhortation on the Proclamation of the Gospel in Today's World|publisher=Holy See|access-date=December 9, 2019|archive-date=August 11, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150811092426/http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20131124_evangelii-gaudium.html#No_to_an_economy_of_exclusion|url-status=live}}</ref> | ||
In 2013, ] referred to "trickle-down theories" in his ] {{lang|la|]}} with the following statement (No. 54): | |||
⚫ | {{ |
||
In New Zealand, ], an ] from the ], called trickle-down economics "the rich pissing on the poor" in the Labour Party campaign launch video for the ].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Chapman|first=Kate|date=October 28, 2011|title=Labour campaign video harks back to history|language=en|work=Stuff.co.nz|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/5870477/Labour-campaign-video-harks-back-to-history|access-date=October 5, 2016|archive-date=December 28, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171228055901/http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/5870477/Labour-campaign-video-harks-back-to-history|url-status=live}}</ref> In a ] debate, ] accused ] 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.<ref>{{cite news|first=Jacob |last=Pramuk|date=September 26, 2016|title=Clinton: Trump would cut taxes for the rich in 'trumped up' trickle down economics|work=]|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2016/09/26/clinton-trump-would-cut-taxes-for-the-rich-in-trump-dump-economics.html|access-date=September 17, 2017|archive-date=December 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201227204018/https://www.cnbc.com/2016/09/26/clinton-trump-would-cut-taxes-for-the-rich-in-trump-dump-economics.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In his ] on April 28, 2021, ] ] stated that "trickle-down economics has never worked".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thehill.com/policy/finance/550848-biden-trickle-down-economics-has-never-worked|title=Biden: 'Trickle-down economics has never worked'|date=April 28, 2021|access-date=April 29, 2021|archive-date=April 29, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210429141703/https://thehill.com/policy/finance/550848-biden-trickle-down-economics-has-never-worked|url-status=live}}</ref> Biden has continued to be critical of trickle-down.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Biden Criticizes 'Mega-MAGA Trickle-Down Economics' |url=https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/midterms-elections-voting-2022-10-24/card/biden-democrats-are-beating-the-tide--c5RXlj5leVUu4n8rq5Y0 |access-date=2022-11-03 |website=WSJ |language=en |archive-date=November 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221103032825/https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/midterms-elections-voting-2022-10-24/card/biden-democrats-are-beating-the-tide--c5RXlj5leVUu4n8rq5Y0 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Video 'I'm so sick and tired of trickle-down economics': Biden |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/video/im-sick-tired-trickle-economics-biden-92558542 |access-date=2022-11-03 |website=ABC News |language=en |archive-date=November 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221103032823/https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/video/im-sick-tired-trickle-economics-biden-92558542 |url-status=live }}</ref> | In New Zealand, ], an ] from the ], called trickle-down economics "the rich pissing on the poor" in the Labour Party campaign launch video for the ].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Chapman|first=Kate|date=October 28, 2011|title=Labour campaign video harks back to history|language=en|work=Stuff.co.nz|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/5870477/Labour-campaign-video-harks-back-to-history|access-date=October 5, 2016|archive-date=December 28, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171228055901/http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/5870477/Labour-campaign-video-harks-back-to-history|url-status=live}}</ref> In a ] debate, ] accused ] 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.<ref>{{cite news|first=Jacob |last=Pramuk|date=September 26, 2016|title=Clinton: Trump would cut taxes for the rich in 'trumped up' trickle down economics|work=]|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2016/09/26/clinton-trump-would-cut-taxes-for-the-rich-in-trump-dump-economics.html|access-date=September 17, 2017|archive-date=December 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201227204018/https://www.cnbc.com/2016/09/26/clinton-trump-would-cut-taxes-for-the-rich-in-trump-dump-economics.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In his ] on April 28, 2021, ] ] stated that "trickle-down economics has never worked".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thehill.com/policy/finance/550848-biden-trickle-down-economics-has-never-worked|title=Biden: 'Trickle-down economics has never worked'|date=April 28, 2021|access-date=April 29, 2021|archive-date=April 29, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210429141703/https://thehill.com/policy/finance/550848-biden-trickle-down-economics-has-never-worked|url-status=live}}</ref> Biden has continued to be critical of trickle-down.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Biden Criticizes 'Mega-MAGA Trickle-Down Economics' |url=https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/midterms-elections-voting-2022-10-24/card/biden-democrats-are-beating-the-tide--c5RXlj5leVUu4n8rq5Y0 |access-date=2022-11-03 |website=WSJ |language=en |archive-date=November 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221103032825/https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/midterms-elections-voting-2022-10-24/card/biden-democrats-are-beating-the-tide--c5RXlj5leVUu4n8rq5Y0 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Video 'I'm so sick and tired of trickle-down economics': Biden |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/video/im-sick-tired-trickle-economics-biden-92558542 |access-date=2022-11-03 |website=ABC News |language=en |archive-date=November 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221103032823/https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/video/im-sick-tired-trickle-economics-biden-92558542 |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> | 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> | ||
⚫ | ], a proponent of ], says that trickle-down economics have never been advocated by any economist, writing in his 2012 book ''"Trickle Down" Theory and "Tax Cuts for the Rich"'' that "The 'trickle-down' theory cannot be found in even the most voluminous scholarly studies of economic theories."<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 disagrees with the characterization of supply-side economics as trickle-down, saying that 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 == | ||
{{div col|colwidth=30em}} | {{div col|colwidth=30em}} | ||
* |
* {{Annotated link |Reaganomics}} | ||
* |
* {{Annotated link |Thatcherism}} | ||
* |
* {{Annotated link |Laffer curve}} | ||
* |
* {{Annotated link |A rising tide lifts all boats}} | ||
* |
* {{Annotated link |Trussonomics}} | ||
* {{Annotated link |Austerity}} | |||
* ] (21st century economic meaning) | |||
* |
* {{Annotated link |Classical economics}} | ||
* |
* {{Annotated link |Economic inequality}} | ||
* |
* {{Annotated link |Keynesian economics}} | ||
* |
* {{Annotated link |Matthew effect}} | ||
* |
* {{Annotated link |Neoclassical economics}} | ||
* |
* {{Annotated link |Neoliberalism}} | ||
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* {{Annotated link |Palace economy}} | ||
* |
* {{Annotated link |Progressive tax}} | ||
{{div col end}} | {{div col end}} | ||
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* Gerald Marvin Meier, Joseph E. Stiglitz (2001) '''' p. 422. | * Gerald Marvin Meier, Joseph E. Stiglitz (2001) '''' p. 422. | ||
* ] and ] (1998) ''Adverse Selection and Institutional Adaptation'' – Department of Economics Working Paper Series/University of Maryland, College Park, Dept. of Economics; no. 98–102. | * ] and ] (1998) ''Adverse Selection and Institutional Adaptation'' – Department of Economics Working Paper Series/University of Maryland, College Park, Dept. of Economics; no. 98–102. | ||
* {{cite journal |journal= Socio-Economic Review |volume=20 |issue=2 |date=April 2022 |pages =539–559 |title= The economic consequences of major tax cuts for the rich |doi=10.1093/ser/mwab061 |url=https://academic.oup.com/ser/article/20/2/539/6500315 |first1=David |last1=Hope |first2=Julian |last2=Limberg }} | * {{cite journal |journal= Socio-Economic Review |volume=20 |issue=2 |date=April 2022 |pages =539–559 |title= The economic consequences of major tax cuts for the rich |doi=10.1093/ser/mwab061 |url=https://academic.oup.com/ser/article/20/2/539/6500315 |first1=David |last1=Hope |first2=Julian |last2=Limberg |doi-access=free }} | ||
* ], June Lapidus, Elaine McCrate and Edwin Melendez (1988). . {{ISBN|0-89608-328-4}}. | * ], June Lapidus, Elaine McCrate and Edwin Melendez (1988). . {{ISBN|0-89608-328-4}}. | ||
* “Reaganomics: A Watershed Moment,," The Economists’ Voice, 2019, 16: 1. | * “Reaganomics: A Watershed Moment,," The Economists’ Voice, 2019, 16: 1. |
Latest revision as of 13:06, 11 December 2024
Pejorative economic and political term
Trickle-down economics is a pejorative term for government economic policies deemed to disproportionately favor the upper tier of the economic spectrum (wealthy individuals and large corporations) under the belief that this will eventually benefit the economy as a whole. The principle is founded on the idea that spending by this group "trickles down" to those less fortunate in the form of stronger economic growth. 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.
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 supply-side economics and 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 Trump tax cuts. Major UK examples include Liz Truss's mini-budget tax cuts of 2022. While economists who favor supply-side economics generally avoid applying the "trickle down" analogy to it and dispute the focus on tax cuts to the rich, the phrase "trickle down" has also been occasionally used by proponents of such policies. 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
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. William Safire traced the origin of the term to this speech.
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 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 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 1980 Republican Party presidential primaries, 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 Reagan's incoming Office of Management and Budget director David Stockman, in the magazine Atlantic Monthly. In the interview, Stockman expressed doubts about 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. Stockman said that "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."
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 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 results 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 succeeded only 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 blamed trickle-down economics for the declining economic conditions in America, saying that "...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 condemned "trickle-down theories" in his apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, saying that "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, a proponent of supply-side economics, says that trickle-down economics have never been advocated by any economist, writing in his 2012 book "Trickle Down" Theory and "Tax Cuts for the Rich" that "The 'trickle-down' theory cannot be found in even the most voluminous scholarly studies of economic theories." Sowell disagrees with the characterization of supply-side economics as trickle-down, saying that 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
- Reaganomics – Economic policies of Ronald Reagan
- Thatcherism – British conservative ideology from the 1980s onward
- Laffer curve – Representation of the relationship between taxation and government revenue
- A rising tide lifts all boats – Economical aphorism
- Trussonomics – Period of the Government of the United Kingdom in 2022Pages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
- Austerity – Economic policies intended to reduce government budget deficits
- Classical economics – School of thought in economics
- Economic inequality – Distribution of income or wealth between different groups
- Keynesian economics – Group of macroeconomic theories
- Matthew effect – The rich get richer and the poor get poorer
- Neoclassical economics – Approach to economics
- Neoliberalism – Renewal of unfettered capitalism as policy
- Palace economy – Economic system in which most of the population's wealth is redistributed by a central group
- Progressive tax – Higher tax on richer source
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{{cite book}}
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Further reading
- Aghion, Philippe; Bolton, Patrick (1997). "A Theory of Trickle-Down Growth and Development". The Review of Economic Studies. 64 (2). The Review of Economic Studies Ltd.: 151–72. doi:10.2307/2971707. JSTOR 2971707.
- Gerald Marvin Meier, Joseph E. Stiglitz (2001) Frontiers of Development Economics: The Future in Perspective p. 422.
- Karla Hoff and Joseph E. Stiglitz (1998) Adverse Selection and Institutional Adaptation – Department of Economics Working Paper Series/University of Maryland, College Park, Dept. of Economics; no. 98–102.
- Hope, David; Limberg, Julian (April 2022). "The economic consequences of major tax cuts for the rich". Socio-Economic Review. 20 (2): 539–559. doi:10.1093/ser/mwab061.
- Randy P. Albelda, June Lapidus, Elaine McCrate and Edwin Melendez (1988). Mink Coats Don't Trickle Down: The Economic Attack on Women and People of Color. ISBN 0-89608-328-4.
- “Reaganomics: A Watershed Moment,Reaganomics A Watershed Moment on the Road to Trumpism.pdf," The Economists’ Voice, 2019, 16: 1.
External links
- John Miller. "Ronald Reagan's Legacy".
- Frank, Robert (April 12, 2007). "In the Real World of Work and Wages, Trickle-Down Theories Don't Hold Up". The New York Times. Retrieved March 5, 2008.
- "Trickle-down economics is the greatest broken promise of our lifetime" (January 20, 2014). The Guardian.
- "The 'trickle down theory' is dead wrong" (June 15, 2015). CNNMoney.