Shining Light on the Myth of "Tickle Down" Economics:

Since 1980 our country has been following one constant philosophy: Give all the breaks to the supply side and they will create a economic tide that will lift all boats. After this thirty year experiment looking at the surface one would have to say no, this is a myth. But are the numbers able to prove this? Well you could look at the gap between rich and poor.

If we go back and examine the period from 1979 to 2005, a period of time where national output more than doubled, did wages increase for the working as a proportion to the productivity increase? The answer is a resounding NO! After tax income inched up just 6% for the bottom fifth of American workers after inflation. While it rose 21% for the middle fifth and 80% for the top fifth. The top 1% received a massive 228% increase. To quote economist Paul Krugman "It's a great economy if you're a high level corporate executive or someone who owns stock. For most others Americans, economic growth is a spectator sport."

If we look at 2005 median income levels for non-elderly households incomes failed to raise adjusted for inflation fro five years in a row. Even as corporate profits doubled over the same year. Sine 1979 hourly earnings for 80% of American private sector non-supervisory jobs has risen just 1%. For the American Male worker his hourly wage dropped 5%! If wages had kept pace with productivity the average American worker would be earning $56,000 a year instead of the current average of $36,000. The Nations economic pie with out a doubt increased over this time but the American worker did not get a bigger piece for their efforts. In fact they got a thinner slice and the investor took the lion's share.

For those of you that favor the philosophy is this what you signed up for? An ever increasing gap between rich and poor. At some point the masses will not be able to afford the products that Wall Street may wish to sell them. I think that is referred to as "Killing the Golden Goose". Economic studies show that income inequality in America is so vast that it resembles more that of a third world country than the richest economy in the world. In America 50 million poor working class folks live at or below the poverty line. Twenty percent of families with children under six live below the poverty line. These are everyday working Americans on the bottom of the rung. Still think all boast are being lifted? In 1937 as FDR took his second oath of office he stated; "The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is wether we provide enough to those who have to little." The working American is being "Trickled Down" on but it is not prosperity that he is feeling it smells funny and is unpleasant! Can we end this experiment now! I think we can safely say it is a nightmare for most Americans.