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Andres Aullet

TEDCRED 10+

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Trickle down vs. trickle up

The more businesses are left alone to do what they do best (sell a product or service), free from regulations, external influences and excessive taxation, the better they will be.

Loans and extra profits can be then used for more business creation and business growth, which in return drive more economic prosperity for investors, and that also "trickles down" to workers (as jobs and better salaries) and consumers (as lower prices) and everybody benefits in the end.

Or so the story goes.

Although the theory says that when investors gets richer, they use this extra wealth to promote more businesses, and in the process creating more jobs and driving prices down through specialization; there are many examples where the extra wealth is either just accumulated, or it is invested in ways that do not create jobs nor drive prices down.


Would things work in reverse?

What if individuals rather than businesses were the recipients of loans (micro), left alone to do what they do best (which i contend is creativity), as free from regulations, external influences and excessive taxation as possible.

They would then require raw materials and more people to put their ideas into action, they would need products and services offered by bigger businesses. In the end, everybody would benefit and the economic prosperity would trickle up

Obviously, this is an idealization.

But, could we benefit from a balance of both approaches?

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    edward long 100+

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    Nov 4 2012: My father-in-law, who was a living embodyment of Archie Bunker, said that if we distributed all the money on Earth evenly among all the people on Earth, it would take just ten years for the money to return to where it was. I think he was right. Trickle direction is always down. Food scraps don't fall to the ceiling, but to the floor.
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      Daniel Sheehan 20+

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      Nov 4 2012: The image that the last two lines invokes is what the Trickle Down concept is all about, "I enjoy the feast and you get to fight over what falls to the floor."
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      Craig Patterson 10+

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      Nov 4 2012: Edward, looks to me that your tree didn't grow that far from your fathers.... Once self serving and selfish, always self serving and selfish. It will be interesting when our economic system (which is only supported by our mutual confidence) goes belly up, for many of these same selfish reasons which you embody. Your children and grand children will inherent the same massively dysfunctional world as mine, unfortunately..

      • John Frum 30+

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        Nov 4 2012: I am curious. In what ways are you selfless? What have you done for the poor and the needy? I wonder why you assume the moral high ground so easily.
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          Craig Patterson 10+

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          Nov 4 2012: John for your benefit...in case you missed it. My previous post.
          The free market is indeed free. It's free of responsibility, accountability and liability. It's free of giving any value to natural resources, ecosystem services and all of the 'commons' we share living on this once garden planet. This disconnect is getting bigger every year with the eventually outcome of inter-generational civil war, as our children and grand children understand how selfish we have been. We need new analysis that understands these new dynamics, not looking backwards into the rear view mirror. Wake up...

      • John Frum 30+

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        Nov 5 2012: Thanks, but I'm afraid what you have pasted doesn't even remotely answer my questions.

        If you wish, I can provide my analysis of what you have pasted. But, that's a different matter.
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        edward long 100+

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        Nov 5 2012: I am a man of many offenses. My character will not withstand even much less vigorous attacks than yours Mr. Patterson. I do think your energy and intellect could be put to more constructive use than assassinating my tattered character. Harvesting such low hanging fruit will not lead to much by way of improving understanding and furthering truth. So, having expounded on your opinion of me personally have you anything constructive or informative to say relating to the topic?

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