Bubble-Up Economics

I have a dear friend who keeps telling me, “Trickle-down economics doesn’t work.”

By this, he means you can’t trust the rich to share their wealth with the poor or working stiffs. Put another way, a rising tide may elevate the top 1% to 10%, but the rich can’t be counted upon to let their wealth “trickle-down” to benefit the poor or alleviate social or economic inequities. You have to tax the rich bastards and redistribute the wealth to grow the middle and lower class and blue collar workers.

Trickle-down economics has its flaws. I’m a bubble-up man myself. I believe true wealth and benefits for the poor and middle class comes from a growing economy, created by lifting tax burdens and regulations from individuals and small businesses, by encouraging innovation among the young and have-nots, by providing equal opportunities for all to think and grow rich, by forming start-up companies to grow in number and to flourish.

If you allow these things to occur, the economy will bubble up from the bottom.

This is precisely what President Obama’s policies have not achieved. Take health care. Regulations and taxes have increased for individuals and small businesses, with such things as $2000 penalties for employers with 50 or more employees who did not cover health benefits for workers, and mandated higher costs for health plans because every plan must offer ten essential benefits. Starting in 2016, every individual will pay $695 if they do not have a health plan.

Consequently, for these and other reasons, business start-ups are at an all time low. Why work and start a business if you receive welfare and unemployment benefits anyway? Why start a business if regulations take your profits away?

Trickle-down rules, more regulations, and higher taxes from above are not likely to cause those at the bottom and the middle to bubble-up.