The letter writer and I agree that a healthy economy features a bigger pie for everyone. We disagree on the recipe. Economists studying the last three decades assert that the “trickle down” concept of rewarding the wealthiest with tax cuts and deregulation does not mean a bigger pie for all. A millionaire’s windfall does not have the systemic economic boost that a windfall for the low-income or middle class does: the latter tend to spend it immediately, the former tend to hoard. And while President Trump’s deregulation of air and water protection might benefit the oil and coal executives, it most certainly makes the pie more toxic for the working class.
Former President Barack Obama reversed a huge recession that was at its worst in 2008, and now Trump surfs the wave of this recovery, claiming it as his “genius” even as he undoes the protections Obama championed. The gap between the rich and poor is widening. This is a far more important trend than the stock market spiking.
Peter Albert, San Francisco
