William Jennings Bryan: Prosperity
on Saturday, June 26, 2021William Jennings Bryan Money Quote saying early in the 20th Century that trickle-down economics should be reversed to grow the economy from the ground upward. William Jennings Bryan said:
“There are two ideas of government. There are those who believe that, if you will only legislate to make the well-to-do prosperous, their prosperity will leak through on those below. The DEMOCRATIC idea, however, has been that if you legislate to make the masses prosperous, their prosperity will find its way up through every class which rests upon them” — William Jennings Bryan
In this quote, William Jennings Bryan is contrasting two philosophies of governance. He suggests that while some believe wealth will “trickle down” by focusing policies around the affluent, the Democratic view is that a more equitable approach is to make legislation that directly benefits average citizens and workers.
Bryan implies that improving conditions for the many will indirectly strengthen the whole economy and society, whereas primarily assisting the few at the top does not guarantee gains will reach others below.
Overall, the quote portrays Bryan endorsing a bottom-up model of governance focused on widespread prosperity, rather than a top-down hope that benefits for the wealthy alone will be widely shared.
Birthday: March 19, 1860 – Death: July 26, 1925