The Pope Is On A Tear
Charlie Pierce reports that Pope Francis has denounced ‘trickle down’ economics, saying the facts don’t correspond to the claims of supporters.
A lot of supporters of ‘trickle down’ are fond of saying that ‘a rising tide raises all boats’. That is true, but the benefits depend on the individual’s ability to have a boat. If you don’t have a boat, the rising tide forces you to tread water until you are too tired, and then you drown.
The 401K was the new solution for the ‘old-fashioned’ defined-benefits plans that corporation once offered. People now know they traded in a dependable Mae West life vest, for something that was supposed to inflate when needed, only to find out the gas cylinders had been emptied by Wall Street. The back-up was home-equity, but that too went underwater thanks to Wall Street.
The people at the top having been seeing triple-digit increases in their wealth, while everyone else is sinking lower in the water.
The only thing that trickles down is sewage.
Susie Madrak has more on the Pope’s document.
November 26, 2013 6 Comments
