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Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles It doesn't have anything to do with free trade. The idea is that lower taxes on the wealthy will cause them to buy more, which will give poor people more jobs -- you got that part right.

that is only a small part of it. and it has a LOT to do with free trade economics. the example i gave you is a perfect example of 'trickle down' thinking.

Trickle-down theory doesn't even address international trade. It is a theory about what government tax policies are best within a nation's economy (low taxes on highest earners).

It doesn't necessarily HAVE to be free trade - though that can create the conditions for accumulation of wealth in the elite. In Africa, the idea was that by funneling billions of dollars through aid and free trade (mostly primary commodities), some of that wealth would trickle down.

But it didn't - in fact, 85% of aid money put into some African countries never reaches the lower class.

When a system predicated on greed somehow argues that accumulation among the wealthy is good for the poor, it just leaves me shaking my head.

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Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles Trickle-down theory doesn't even address international trade. It is a theory about what government tax policies are best within a nation's economy (low taxes on highest earners).

It's both - the difference between the Reagan version (domestic) and the Thatcher version (more international).

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Originally posted by Lebezniatnikov It's both - the difference between the Reagan version (domestic) and the Thatcher version (more international).

Okay. I had only heard of the Reagan version.

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Originally posted by Lebezniatnikov When a system predicated on greed somehow argues that accumulation among the wealthy is good for the poor, it just leaves me shaking my head.

When the top earners get richer, the poor benefit by the increased availability of yacht-building jobs, donchaknow?

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Originally posted by Lebezniatnikov It doesn't necessarily HAVE to be free trade - though that can create the conditions for accumulation of wealth in the elite. In Africa, the idea was that by funneling billions of dollars through aid and free trade (mostly primary commodities), some of that wealth would trickle down. But it didn't - in fact, 85% of aid money put into some African countries never reaches the lower class. When a system predicated on greed somehow argues that accumulation among the wealthy is good for the poor, it just leaves me shaking my head.

well, maybe i see it as related to free trade because that's the only way i believe anything can ever "trickle down" to anyone! in australia at least trickling always seemed to revolve around the context of free trade, but im happy to be corrected by you two

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Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles Okay. I had only heard of the Reagan version.

That's the dominant use of the term here in the US - but it's the same principle really - both cause the same effect of amassing wealth among the wealthy and hoping that increased consumption will eventually work its way down to the poor - by way of money passing from rich households to firms to manufacturers, and eventually out to individuals in the form of wages.

In practice, there is very little evidence to suggest it works - certainly not in anything approaching the short term.

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Originally posted by Lebezniatnikov 1. Trickle-down economics doesn't work. That's why we're in the place we are

Well, you're the biggest, most badass economy in the world. I always assumed the US were the top world power thanks to being capitalistic as fuck and having very big-corporation-friendly laws.

I presume you're talking about the present financial crisis though.

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sempre contra a corrente do jogo

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Originally posted by noikeee Well, you're the biggest, most badass economy in the world. I always assumed the US were the top world power thanks to being capitalistic as fuck and having very big-corporation-friendly laws. I presume you're talking about the present financial crisis though.

Yeah - I'm talking mostly about the bursting of the credit bubble.

However, it's worth noting that 38 million Americans live in poverty - that's like the entire population of France.

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Originally posted by noikeee Well, you're the biggest, most badass economy in the world.

Not for much longer, and that's if we even are anymore.

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Originally posted by Lebezniatnikov Yeah - I'm talking mostly about the bursting of the credit bubble. However, it's worth noting that 38 million Americans live in poverty - that's like the entire population of France.

France has over 60 million people

(Wait, was that sarcasm about being an ignorant American? )