trickle down
Flow slowly below
Trickle down describes the idea that benefits given to those at the top—wealth, tax cuts, economic advantages—will eventually flow down to those below.
The metaphor suggests gravity doing the work: help the rich and prosperity will trickle down to everyone else.
Trickle-down economics is often used critically by those who doubt this actually happens.
The phrase can apply beyond economics: The coach's philosophy trickled down to the assistant coaches.
Production-centered economic theory
- tax cutsDecreased government assessments
- ReaganomicsSupply-side fiscal philosophy
- neoliberalismPro-market, anti-regulation ideology
- laissez-faireNoninterference in commerce
deregulation · free market · voodoo economics · fiscal policy · monetarism · economic theory · privatization · pro-business
Filter through gradually
- filterPorous separation device
- seepFlow slowly through
- cascadeSuccessive downward flow
- spreadTo distribute widely
diffuse · distribute · disseminate · reach · benefit · gradual · indirect · eventual
Unequal distribution of resources
- wealth gapEconomic inequality measure
- debunkedExposed as fraudulent
- mythTraditional explanatory tale
- fallacyError in reasoning
skepticism · criticism · disparity · stratification · oligarchy · plutocracy · exploitation · elitism
Reductions in owed levies
- subsidiesFinancial aid from government
- capital gainsProfit from asset sales
- estate taxLevy on inherited wealth
- corporate taxLevy on company profits
legislation · fiscal stimulus · government spending · enterprise zones · incentives · loopholes · austerity · budget
supply-side
Production-centered economic theory
- tax cutsDecreased government assessments
- ReaganomicsSupply-side fiscal philosophy
- neoliberalismPro-market, anti-regulation ideology
laissez-faire · deregulation · free market · voodoo economics · fiscal policy · monetarism · economic theory · privatization · pro-business · incentivization
percolate
Filter through gradually
spread · diffuse · distribute · disseminate · reach · benefit · gradual · indirect · eventual · downstream
inequality
Unequal distribution of resources
- wealth gapEconomic inequality measure
- debunkedExposed as fraudulent
- mythTraditional explanatory tale
fallacy · skepticism · criticism · disparity · stratification · oligarchy · plutocracy · exploitation · elitism · propaganda
tax breaks
Reductions in owed levies
- subsidiesFinancial aid from government
- capital gainsProfit from asset sales
- estate taxLevy on inherited wealth
corporate tax · legislation · fiscal stimulus · government spending · enterprise zones · incentives · loopholes · austerity · budget · revenue
- economic policymonetary policy, tax policy, fiscal discipline, fiscal stimulus, fiscal restraint
- Reagan Eraevil empire, trust but verify
- capitalismcapitalism, free market, free enterprise, private property, profit motive
- economicssupply and demand, inflation, GDP, GNP, gross domestic product
- declinedecline, in decline, decrease, downswing, on the decline
- inequalitywealth gap, income gap, disparity, wage gap, income disparity
trickle downKeynesian economics
Spending-driven macroeconomic theory
redistribution · wealth redistribution · progressive taxation · direct transfer · welfare state
trickle downbottom-up
Starting from fundamentals
universal basic income · egalitarianism · socialism · communism
down, dribble, trickle, trickling, trickled, trickles, trickle-down