trickle-down theory

American  

noun

1. an economic theory that monetary benefits directed especially by the government to big business will in turn pass down to and profit smaller businesses and the general public.

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Etymology

Origin of trickle-down theory

First recorded in 1950–55

Example Sentences

Many of the people who are begging Congress to appropriate money to hunt UFOs apparently subscribe to a trickle-down theory, where they believe that some of that money will end up in their pockets.

From Salon

“It’s almost like trickle-down theory: ‘Let’s just hope some of this goodness will trickle down to Black folks and they will benefit from it.’

From Seattle Times

This is the essence of the trickle-down theory and the lionization of rich people as “job creators.”

From Los Angeles Times

He called it “the false assumption of the infamous trickle-down theory that a growing economy will make us all richer.”

From Reuters

"If the theory is: Let's make sure companies are solvent and the workers will be OK, that theory could work. But it's a trickle-down theory," said Lev Menand, a former New York Fed economist who now teaches at Columbia Law School.

From Salon