trickle-down
Wealth filters downward
Trickle-down describes an economic theory holding that benefits given to the wealthy—tax cuts, deregulation—will eventually flow down to benefit everyone else.
The metaphor suggests wealth dripping from top to bottom like water through layers.
Critics use the term dismissively: Trickle-down economics doesn't work.
The phrase extends beyond economics to any system where advantages supposedly filter from privileged groups to others: trickle-down fashion trends.
Supply-side fiscal philosophy
- supply-sideProduction-centered economic theory
- laissez-faireNoninterference in commerce
- neoliberalismPro-market, anti-regulation ideology
- deregulationRemoving governmental business restrictions
free-market · monetarism · privatization · Thatcherism · austerity
Slow fluid escape
- percolationLiquid passing through pores
- filterPorous separation device
- dripLiquid falling slowly
- gradualDeveloping slowly over time
diffusion · downstream · eventual · slow · indirect · spillover · leakage · distribution
Unequal distribution of resources
- disparityMeasurable difference between things
- plutocracyRule by the rich
- oligarchyRule by few
- concentrationSustained single-minded attention
hoarding · stagnation · poverty · unfairness · debunked · failed · myth · illusion
Having abundant financial resources
- corporationsLegally incorporated business entities
- shareholdersOwners of company stock
- CEOsHighest corporate officers
- elitesPrivileged powerful groups
upper-class · investors · billionaires · executives · entrepreneurs
Reaganomics
Supply-side fiscal philosophy
- supply-sideProduction-centered economic theory
- laissez-faireNoninterference in commerce
- neoliberalismPro-market, anti-regulation ideology
deregulation · free-market · monetarism · privatization · Thatcherism · austerity
seepage
Slow fluid escape
- percolationLiquid passing through pores
- filterPorous separation device
- dripLiquid falling slowly
gradual · diffusion · downstream · eventual · slow · indirect · spillover · leakage · distribution · spread
inequality
Unequal distribution of resources
- disparityMeasurable difference between things
- plutocracyRule by the rich
- oligarchyRule by few
concentration · hoarding · stagnation · poverty · unfairness · debunked · failed · myth · illusion · skepticism
wealthy
Having abundant financial resources
- corporationsLegally incorporated business entities
- shareholdersOwners of company stock
- CEOsHighest corporate officers
elites · upper-class · investors · billionaires · executives · entrepreneurs
- economic policymonetary policy, tax policy, fiscal discipline, fiscal stimulus, fiscal restraint
- fiscal policybudget deficit, deficit spending, national budget, budget surplus, budget deficits
- top-downhierarchy, pyramid, chain of command, command structure, bird's-eye view
- capitalism critiqueanti-capitalism, wealth inequality, income inequality, wealth gap, income gap
- economicssupply and demand, inflation, GDP, GNP, gross domestic product
- taxationtax, income tax, sales tax, tax return, tax refund
trickle-downKeynesianism
Interventionist macroeconomic theory
progressive taxation · wealth redistribution · Keynesian economics · egalitarianism · socialism
down, downtown, downfall, trickle, downpour, downward, download, downcast, downgrade