Annie Lowrey vs. Milton Friedman: Soak the Rich?

Thu. April 19, 2012:

     We can come a smidgeon closer to a question which the lamestream media has evidently felt is beyond our brains.
So, they have not run much -- if anything -- on this crucial question:

Does trickle-down economics work, or not?  We saw it in the 1920's, under Coolidge & Hoover.  That went well.
We saw it in the 1980's under Reagan.  Highest inequality ever, was the result.
Now we see it in 2012, under Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney, and other "courageous Republican leaders."  We shall see.

To us lay-fools, a simplified version of the theory is:  Stop taxing rich businesses & individuals, and they will be comforted by such a business-friendly environment; so they will hire & invest in new projects, which brings new prosperity to the economy; their wealth at the top will trickle down through the whole pyramid of citizens; government's role should be restricted to minimal refereeing of the market, and should stop interfering on behalf of the inefficient, uneconomical powerless.  "Social Darwinism," cries President Obama?  "Pshaw," say Republicans, "it will work great in the long run, if not the short run." 
Back in the 1930's, economist John Maynard Keynes famously quipped:  In the long run, we are all dead.

For those who really want to test the trickle-down theory -- AND its liberal counter-theories -- here are 2 places to start:

1.  Get on youtube, find "Milton Friedman: Why Soaking the Rich Won't Work."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wi-D24oCa10

2.  Find Annie Lowrey, "French Duo See (Well) Past Tax Rise for the Richest," in NYT, Tues. April 19, 2012.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/17/business/for-economists-saez-and-piketty-the-buffett-rule-is-just-a-start.html?pagewanted=all