Fifty Years of Tax Cuts for Rich Didn't Trickle Down, Study Says

[Gothmog]

There is no tax cut fairy and tax cuts for the rich do not work in the real world

Link to tweet

Tax cuts for rich people breed inequality without providing much of a boon to anyone else, according to a study of the advanced world that could add to the case for the wealthy to bear more of the cost of the coronavirus pandemic.

The paper, by David Hope of the London School of Economics and Julian Limberg of King’s College London, found that such measures over the last 50 years only really benefited the individuals who were directly affected, and did little to promote jobs or growth.

“Policy makers shouldn’t worry that raising taxes on the rich to fund the financial costs of the pandemic will harm their economies,” Hope said in an interview....

The authors applied an analysis amalgamating a range of levies on income, capital and assets in 18 OECD countries, including the U.S. and U.K., over the past half century.

Their findings published Wednesday counter arguments, often made in the U.S., that policies which appear to disproportionately aid richer individuals eventually feed through to the rest of the economy. The timespan of the paper ends in 2015, but Hope says such an analysis would also apply to President Donald Trump’s tax cut enacted in 2017.

“Our research suggests such policies don’t deliver the sort of trickle-down effects that proponents have claimed,” Hope said.

[Shermann]

1. They don't pay for themselves in terms of tax revenues either nt

[GoCubsGo]

2. Didn't need a study to tell us that.

File it under: No shit, Sherlock.

[Talitha]

20. THIS

[OldBaldy1701E]

26. Double THIS! (n/t)

[dchill]

48. Big well duh!

[KPN]

49. Quadruple THIS!!!! My first thought was ...

it takes a frigging study to figure that out?! Many of us figured that from the get-go, when David Stockman pushed it as Reagan’ head of OMB. And some of us have known it for 30 years!

[Bettie]

3. SHOCKING!

Oh, wait, no, not at all shocking.

Everyone knows this.

[SunSeeker]

4. K & R & Retweeted!

[FakeNoose]

5. Yeah ... we know!

May Ronald Reagan rot in hell!

[Gothmog]

50. That is a great description on how trickle down economics works

Thank you for posting this

[Martin Eden]

55. Great graphic

Tax cuts for the rich achieve two things:

1) Return on investment for funding politicians they essentially bought.

2) Starve the government of funds, intentionally driving up deficits so these politicians can push for "entitlement reforms" -- cutting earned benefits we paid for our entire working lives with deductions from every paycheck.

[UpInArms]

58. The only thing that would improve your graphic

would be the addition of one more panel ... showing the largest glass even bigger and all the small glasses broken

[ooky]

6. Not at all. The concept failed to consider the effects of greed.

Which was easily predictable btw.

[Budi]

7. K & R

🎄

[JanMichael]

9. Eat the Rich (1987)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092944/

Awesome movie.

[Chainfire]

10. I disagree

I have felt trickled upon at least sine Reagan. I am not like Trump who can go to Russia to get trickled on, so I am glad they brought it to us working stiffs.

[Irish_Dem]

11. America has been an oligarchy for a long time. Power in the hands of the rich.

The rest of us get a few crumbs to keep us quiet.

[OldBaldy1701E]

32. Yes it has

and the level of delusion that I see every day that insists that I am wrong... well, that usually comes from the mouthpieces of those same rich people. Only someone who is 'in' on the money making is going to even try to say we are not. The rest are just those who were not blessed with a fully functioning brain. The disparity is so bad now that even first graders can see it.

[Irish_Dem]

35. I have been saying for decades that America is an oligarchy.

People are finally catching up and can see it for themselves.'
It had to get really bad unfortunately. Americans dying and in food lines.

[OldBaldy1701E]

62. THAT is what burns me to this day

the sacrifice of so many fellow Americans on the alter of corporate greed. It is horrifying and immoral. Not just those who were directly connected to those organizations, but the way they have tweaked out every aspect of our socio-economic lives to favor themselves at every turn. I myself can only hope that this economy collapses so we can try for something better.

(Doubt it will come to this, but it needs to. As you said, it had to get really bad before the recognition would begin. I don't want that in the context of the people who will suffer, but I sure do want it so that we can try to progress as a society. We sure have not in the past 50 years, except in ways that made the oligarchs more money.)

[Irish_Dem]

68. We are just consumers now, no longer considered people or citizens.

We are only cheap labor and consumers to the oligarchs.

I don't know what it will take, even during severe societal crisis, the rich get much richer.
As the rest of us suffer.

Dark GOP money is flooding GA right now.
Anything to prevent a Dem Senate who will help people with no food or homes.

The richest nation in the history of the world and they can barely throw us a few crumbs.

Russia is not really a nation anymore, but a band of extremely rich oligarchs holding power over the Russian people.
Recent events in the US show us we are not far behind them.

The ultra wealthy are even funding travel to Mars now. Is this their escape plan, once they trash this planet they will
jump to another one and repeat the cycle?

A gloomy picture, but we can hope the American people wake up in larger numbers.
Perhaps free two year college educations would help people understand what it means to be a citizen, and how the world
can be a better place.

[SamKnause]

12. Duh.

[LymphocyteLover]

13. I'm shocked! SHOCKED I SAY!

[gratuitous]

14. The Republican response: Not yet

But let's try another round of tax cuts for the wealthy and see if it works then. We're pretty sure it will this time. And if not this time, surely next time. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

15. Well, it was known in 1932 ...

[regnaD kciN]

16. Hmm...

[wnylib]

42. One of my favorite scenes in one of

my favorite films. Lots of good lines in this flick.

[malaise]

17. Friedman and all his enablers failed

Fuck neo-liberalism

[rickyhall]

21. No. They got exactly what they wanted. It was never intended to do what they promised.

It's all a scam to help the rich, probably since the 1870s. Sorry for my bluntness. I don't trust any Repug.

[malaise]

22. Naomi Klein was right

Shock Doctrine all for the rich!
It was nothing but propaganda and way too many bought into this prosperity shit. Meanwhile the rich have looted the world and own most of the politicians.

Please be careful many former progressive bought into this crap.

[wnylib]

44. Exactly. Even Papa Bush knew that it was

voodoo economics. Never was intended to work as described. Just an economic con job.

[aidbo]

18. A classic meme:

[malaise]

23. Perfect

So glad I never bought this BS

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

31. Trickle down

Isn't that like a golden shower?

[wnylib]

45. I have always called it "trickle on" economics.

[UpInArms]

59. Peon me

[smirkymonkey]

19. Really?

Well smack my ass and call me Sally! Who knew?



Does anybody buy this BS anymore? SMH.

[onecaliberal]

24. In other news, water is wet.

Why do we have to keep having this discussion.

[Lonestarblue]

27. Because Republicans keep cutting taxes for the wealthy promising big jobs.

Their voters need to be reminded over and over that trickle down is a scam. Economic understanding is abysmal in this country, especially among backward Republicans who believe whatever Fox and Rush tell them to believe.

[onecaliberal]

30. I don't get why people believe things people on teevee say like they can't look in their wallet

bank accounts. They can't discern that they are making the same amount of money each year or less but everything they have to buy costs more. It's just common sense, but I guess they are not in possession of any.

[OldBaldy1701E]

34. As the classic meme says,

"Common Sense: So rare it's almost a goddamn super power"

[ProfessorGAC]

25. I Did A Paper On This...

...in econometrics for my MBA, in '95.
There was no manipulation of factors, or weighting that could twist the data into showing a macroeconomic benefit.
My paper was well received, even among the libertarian instructors.
Well enough, that my Business Plan assignment was allowed to be fiscal policy proposal, instead of business formation.
I don't know why it took professional economists this long to publish a comprehensive statement to this effect.

[Kid Berwyn]

33. Upton Sinclair explained...

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it."

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

28. I think most of us here know that

I just with they'd quit repeating the supply side BS in the MSM.

[JHB]

56. The people repeating it directly benefit from it.

For instance, 1955's 91% tax bracket, adjusted for inflation, at about $1.5 million today. Joe Scarborough makes about 6-8 million.

No way he's going to bad-mouth tax cuts for the rich.

[StClone]

29. It was not supposed to-they were selling this lie to get richer

[gibraltar72]

36. It worked on the back of a bar napkin.

[ancianita]

37. And we keep having these studies why? Like the one 3 years ago wasn't conclusive enough?

[Marie Marie]

39. Yes, I thought that this had been studied to death - all with the same conclusion.

It doesn't work!

[zentrum]

38. Tell the Lincoln Project

….who did a zoom meeting not too long ago talking about how Reagan was the last good Republican.

[OhioTim]

40. MSNBC Republicans

think Regan was the ultimate president. He loved trickle down.

[Skittles]

41. the only thing that trickled down was them pissing on us

arrogant fuckers

[AngryOldDem]

43. And?

You don’t need to be a Nobel laureate in Economics to know that.

[chriscan64]

46. From David Stockman, Reagan's budget director

"It was always about the right to get rich and keep the money."
The Triumph of Politics

[Solly Mack]

47. No fucking shit.

[dlk]

51. There's a big surprise...

[pansypoo53219]

52. DUH!

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

53. I'm going to let Iago speak for me.

[OldBaldy1701E]

63. Perfect!

BTW, how is the band these days?

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

64. Doin' pretty good. Not touring 'cause Covid, of course.

Buckaroo's a doctor, and a damn good one, so of course we're gonna listen to him.

Spendin' the time workin' on a new album. Should be ready to go by next summer.







(Note: for anyone who hasn't seen the movie, these are just references to The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension, one of my favorite cult movies. I am not in the band, nor do I claim to be Doctor Buckaroo Banzai or any of the Hong Kong Cavaliers. )

[OldBaldy1701E]

65. So, I have one song.

In the movie, they start a rocking tune but Buckaroo sees that girl and decides to stop the song and do something more mellow and softer. I took the bit of the first song they started and edited it into an entire song back when the movie came out on VHS. I had so many fans lose their minds and want a copy of it. Hehe.

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

66. Nice!

I know the slow song was "Since I Don't Have You" but I never knew if the opening tune to their set was an actual song or just studio music made for the movie.

[OldBaldy1701E]

67. Me either

but I liked it so much I wanted to both have a full copy of it and to see if my band could do it. (We never did the tune though... bummer).

[AwakeAtLast]

54. Guess who's 50?

They've been pissing on us and telling us it's raining!

[ck4829]

57. K&R

[Gothmog]

60. Rudy's hair dye is the only trickle down

Link to tweet

[Hugin]

61. My lips slowly and silently form the words...

"No shit."

[Hotler]

69. This is an insult to us. We knew we would get pissed on from the start. And so did Bloomberg

and the other 1%. And they all enjoyed the boat loads of money and power. And on top of pissing on us they want liability from injuring us in the work place.

[Gothmog]

70. From the Hoarse Whisperer

Link to tweet

?s=20

[Blue Owl]

71. Instead, Jared Kushner failed upward

[Gothmog]

72. From Senator Warren

Link to tweet

[Gothmog]

73. 50 years of tax cuts for the rich failed to trickle down, economics study says

Link to tweet