trickle down

adj, verb — 5 senses

trickle-down

adjalso spelled trickle-down
1

That flows, especially in limited quantity, from the highly placed to others.

  • His name is Harry E Thompson and his Trickle-Down solar heating system is the basis for this book.2007, John Canivan, MTD Solar Heating, John Canivan, →ISBN, page 18:
2

Economics, Sciences Describing the theory that financial benefits given to the wealthy will somehow be passed down to the poor.

  • In addition, it examines the trickle-down effects of economic development as espoused by market theorists in the urban economic development literature. Policymakers in Rockford used the trickle-down logic of market theory to justify a […]2002, James L. Conyers, Black Cultures and Race Relations, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 125:
  • While the trickle-down mechanism is based on market optimism (in a well-functioning economy, the poor will benefit automatically from any growth), proponents of direct and indirect policies targeting the poor are market-pessimists, in which […]2007, Christian Schabbel, The Value Chain of Foreign Aid: Development, Poverty Reduction, and Regional Conditions, Springer Science & Business Media, →ISBN, page 200:
1 more example
  • On the surface, the Kuznets curve seems to justify laissez-faire economics and trickle-down policies.2012 April 30, Kentaro Toyama, “The Rise and Fall and Rise (Literally) of the Most Important Curve in Economics”, in The Atlantic:
3

Business, Marketing Describing a model of product adoption that flows vertically from the upper classes to the lower classes within society.

  • Trickle-down patterns are very common for technological innovations, especially when new gadgets come to market with high price tags. The first black-and-white televisions cost more than some automobiles.2022, W. David Marx, chapter 8, in Status and Culture, Viking, →ISBN:
Derived terms
trickle-down hypothesis
Related terms
tinkle-down

trickle down

verb
1

Economics, Sciences To pass from high-ranked people to lower-ranked people

  • The CEO's benefits are unlikely to trickle down to the factory workers.
2

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see trickle, down.

Related terms
trickle-down, trickle-down economics, trickle-down hypothesis, supply-side economics

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — authors: page histories for trickle-down and trickle down.