Last week, Elizabeth Warren appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, where she hammered the Republicans’ refusal to give up on the idea of trickle down economics.
Warren explained that when the idea was first put into practice in the 1980’s, the Republican prediction would be that the wealthy elite would spend more money if we cut their taxes. The only problem is that they didn’t spend that money – they never do. They invested in stocks, a move that did absolutely nothing to help the working class. As a result, Warren explained, a whopping ZERO PERCENT of the income growth that happened during that time went to working class Americans. Their wages remained stagnant, while the net worth of the richest Americans went through the roof after their taxes were cut.
And the same thing happened when George W. Bush reinvigorated the idea of trickle down economics in the early 2000’s. The wages of the working class actually began declining during this time, while the worth and cash reserves of the wealthiest Americans grew at a staggering rate. And unfortunately, that’s still mostly true today, as Democrats in Washington have refused repeatedly to roll back the tax breaks for the 1%.
But people like Elizabeth Warren are not going to give up, and the public overwhelmingly believes that the wealthiest Americans don’t pay their fair share in taxes. And as for trickle down? Even David Stockman, the economist that developed the idea of trickle down economics, admits that it simply doesn’t work and we should abandon the theory.
Even with the public rejecting the idea and every credible economist telling us that it will never work, that hasn’t stopped the Republican field of presidential candidates from doubling-down on the failed theory. Only this time, the voting public has lived through at least one – most of us through two – recessions brought on by trickle down economics, and it’s highly doubtful that they’re going to fall for the lie for a third time.
