The Suck-Up Theory of Economics

The trickle-down theory claims that money given to the rich will eventually trickle down to the poor and middle class. That theory has failed spectacularly:

Money given to the rich circulates among the rich.
Any money that trickles away trickles to offshore banks and outsourced jobs.
The only local jobs generated by the rich are dead-end, low-paying service jobs.
The only good jobs created by large corporations were created by poor entrepreneurs who became rich, despite the nearly insuperable barriers set up by the rich.

The more realistic alternative is the suck-up theory: a dollar given to the poor or middle class will be sucked up by the rich within a week. Therefore, the best stimulus to the economy as a whole comes from money pumped in at the bottom, not the top.

Another metaphor promulgated by the rich is “A rising tide raises all boats.” That may be true, but the tide comes up from the bottom, not the top.

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