It's disingenuous to claim claim that trickle down economics worked when the widespread middle class in the 1950s was buoyed by more government spending, much much higher union membership and high taxes on rich people. The US did have widespread beneficial economic growth after the rest of the world was town down in ww2 and we weren't, but that has ended over time as Reagan and others started claiming trickle down was the way to go. We reduced taxes on the top, theoretically making it easier for rich to spend and induce jobs for the others, but the impact of 1970s to now is worse opportunities. In summary the time that trickle down econ. was supposed to help was the time where the non-rich started to lose their share more and more.