“Trickle down economics” was not invented by conservatives in the 1980s. There was never any such economic theory advocated. The term was always a strawman, popularized by Democrats who opposed the policies of Reagan and free market economists.
▪️Economist Thomas Sowell pointed out years ago that there is no such recorded theory found anywhere in economics. No one actually believed that if you give rich people money it would “trickle down” to the poor, that’s a strawman invented by Democrats.
https://www.hoover.org/sites/default/files/uploads/documents/Sowell_TrickleDown_FINAL.pdf
▪️Those who advocated for lower tax rates did so for two main reasons. One, that the economy will be stronger if people keep more of their money, which will be used to invest in businesses, equipment and innovation instead of frittered away by the government.
▪️Two, lowering tax rates incentivizes working more and/or spending less time & energy sheltering money from taxes. Thus, the net effect will be the same or even more tax revenue. This was JFK’s argument to lower the top rate (which conveniently wasn’t labeled “trickle down.”)
▪️The whole trickle down narrative is a myth. There hasn’t been any such massive decrease in tax percentages paid by the rich. The chart from the CBO clearly shows this (posted in comments). The only notable reduction in taxes has ironically been in the lowest quintile.
https://www.cbo.gov/publication/58781#_idTextAnchor054
▪️In fact, the lowest quintile has a negative tax rate, while the highest quintile has the highest rate by far, even factoring in payroll and excise taxes (chart also posted in comments). In other words, the only trickle down theory in practice is via government taxation sending money to the poor.
So many of these right wing accounts are just whiners now, this is a diatribe about automatic sinks and towels, the horror! As I explained in a prior post, most of the newer terminals have great bathrooms, some now have completely private stalls and plenty of them. The worst and most crowded airport bathrooms are invariably found in aging terminals that are decades old. It’s a reminder that airports were usually drab and uncomfortable.
I think the heyday of the air hand-dryers was like 15-20 years ago, where often you couldn’t find real towels. Now you can at least usually get real paper towels in airport bathrooms. Remember those old cloth roller towels that would go in a loop and somehow “clean” themselves? Yuck! Public bathrooms have always been gross, it seems some are deliberately having selective memories.
Airport food and drinks were always expensive, but now practically everyone brings those huge cooler flasks with them and fills them up. So not sure what he means that ...
I first critiqued this terrible take by looking at how food has actually improved substantially. Even though I said the same could be done in every category, people said “you’re only doing food.” So let’s do air travel and see why it’s not gotten better, not worse.
▪️Aircraft have greatly improved. Just 15-20 years ago, many domestic routes (~15%) were flown by turboprops like the Brasilia, Dash 8 or Saab. Now, almost everything is in jets, and most aircraft have WiFi. Some even have Starlink, where you probably have faster WiFi than your home. Most major airlines offer dozens or hundreds of movies and shows to watch.
▪️Newer designs like the 787 have lower cabin altitudes and improved humidity, which make a huge difference in passenger comfort on long haul flights. The first/business class international market has gotten very competitive globally, with many carriers offering excellent service and amenities. Pods, suites, showers, etc. Coach still sucks but is dramatically cheaper ...
This is the complete opposite of an empirical fact. The right has now joined the left in being pessimistic about the modern world and completely unappreciative of the amazing abundance we now have. I’ll just focus on food here, but you could do it for almost every category.
▪️Fresh produce used to be available only in season. In the winter it was canned or frozen. People used to send fruit for Christmas gifts, it was that much of a luxury good. Now, you can get giant, sweet berries year around in every grocery store. Corn on the cob in February. Not to mention once rare items like dragon fruit, heirloom tomatoes or baby bok choy.
▪️If you didn’t live on the coast, seafood was either not available, frozen, or extremely expensive. If you lived in the Midwest and traveled to coastal locales you would quite literally be able to eat food you had never seen. Salmon has become much more abundant and accessible. You can get fresh ahi at Walmart today. Sushi and oyster bars exist everywhere ...
