# Does Trickle Down Economics Work?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-trickle-down-economics-work/225886>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [January 24, 2004, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-trickle-down-economics-work/225886 "2004-01-24T21:26:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![pervert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbe5ce/32.png) [@pervert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pervert)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2004, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-trickle-down-economics-work/225886/61 "2004-01-28T05:08:51Z")

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> [@jshore](#):
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> **pervert** , I think you are taking my hypothetical examples a bit too seriously.

Not really. Just geting flowery again 😉 BTW, I really like that phrase. I may have to use it again, and agian, and a… Well you get the idea.

> [@](#):
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> But, the first step, as they say, is acknowledging we have a problem.

Ok, I agree with this. But what exactly do you think the problem is? Is the gap between rich and poor in and of itself a problem? If so, how? If all groups of people are able to have a better life, even given the ever increasing population, what is the problem if some are increasing faster than others? Now, if you can demonstrate that some groups are growing disproportionally to their contribution, then we might have something. I’m not sure the simple fact of a disparity is such proof.

> [@](#):
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> One point that is notable from that CBPP report: While the gains were very unequally shared in the 1980s, the gains in the 1990s were actually much more equally shared (in the sense of everyone’s income increasing by about the same relative percentage so that inequality did not change very much). So, that is at least a hint that the economic policies of the 1990s are probably better than those of the 1980s from an equity standpoint.

I’m not sure that is the case at all. It may simply be that certain portions of the economy grew faster in one decade than the other. When I put the numbers from Table 2 into a spread sheet and look at the growth during the 80s the average income grew 14%. In the 90s it was 22%. I’m not sure that any particular government policy was responsible for any of that.  
Which is the point you were making here:

> [@](#):
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> (They also may have been better from an efficiency standpoint since everyone gained more in the 1990s than the 1980s.) On the other hand, as folks note, correlation does not imply causation, and so this needs to be studied much more closely to try to pin down the link between policy and inequality.

Speaking of this difference, however, I’d be most curious to see numbers from other decades. It still seems like they may have chosen the start points to help make their point.

> [@](#):
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> I would highly recommend that you travel to such places…preferably staying long enough to get a good feel! I think we Americans are generally much more ignorant of how issues are handled and life is lived in other countries than is true of many other First World citizens. And, we are the poorer for it.

I can agree with this whole heartily. Although I would also recomend learning more about the nitty gritty of history as well. Or at least travelling to other countries besides the 1st world.

> [@](#):
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> I am sure there are studies out there but off the top of my head what comes to mind is some indirect evidence, like child mortality rates.

I’m not sure such things can be reduced to this sort of figure. I remember hearing several years ago that the child mortilty rates had increased. I later learned that part of this was because of how the number is measured. If a child is delivered, it is not considered part of the infant mortality rate unless it survives a certain amount of time. If more and more premies survive past this cuttoff, then the child mortality rate might increase despite the fact that whats really hapening is that we have become better at saving at risk babies.

Otherwise, that’s ok if you don’t have a study. (the one you linked to in the next post does not define poverty BTW). But what exactly did you mean by desperation?

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