Friday, February 16, 2018

Government "Stimulus": The Real Trickledown Economics

In the media and among pundits use of the term trickledown economics is common.

Changes in a tax code that are rooted in supply side economics are about enhancing economic growth by changing incentives to work, save, and invest.

This doesn't mean that we should jettison the use of the phrase "Trickledown economics." In fact, it is nearly a perfect description of the brand of economics that guides the thinking of most of those commentators who use the term to deride supply side economics - that is Keynesianism.

Keynesian economics, or the economics derived from the writings of early 20th century economist John Maynard Keynes, is in fact, a trickledown theory of how to stimulate economic growth.

This is where Keynesian policy turns to a theory of trickledown economics.

The point here though, is that Keynesian economics is truly a trickledown theory.

On the other hand, Keynesian trickledown economics has worked well in providing a pseudo-scientific justification for transferring wealth from the private sector to the government and its favored special interest groups - General Motors, Chrysler and the big banks are just a few of the more recent examples.

https://mises.org/wire/government-stimulus-real-trickledown-economics

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