In the distant--but not too distant--past, "the rich" often meant business owners who might make a lot of money, but employed a lot of people. The idea of cutti

In the distant--but not too distant--past, "the rich" often meant business owners who might make a lot of money, but employed a lot of people. The idea of cutting taxes would mean more available capital for business expansion. It's not really the case so much anymore. A decent Silicon Valley salary would put you in the top 10% of earners, and a Python programmer doesn't usually hire a lot of people. Top 1%ers tend to be of the financial rent-seeking sort, who might hire some people, but they're not expanding the concrete pylon plant to another state or anything like that, which would expand middle class wages and/or employment. The gutting of the industrial base since Reagan cut high tax rates for the top earners demonstrates that things don't always work out how you expect.