▁first ▁known ▁use ▁of ▁" tr ick le - down ▁theory " ▁was ▁in ▁ 1 9 5 4 . ▁ ▁After ▁leaving ▁the ▁presiden cy , ▁Dem ocrat ▁Ly nd on ▁B . ▁Johnson ▁alleg ed ▁" Rep ublic ans ▁[...] ▁simply ▁don ' t ▁know ▁how ▁to ▁manage ▁the ▁economy . ▁They ' re ▁so ▁busy ▁operating ▁the ▁trick le - down ▁theory , ▁giving ▁the ▁rich est ▁corpor ations ▁the ▁biggest ▁break , ▁that ▁the ▁whole ▁thing ▁goes ▁to ▁hell ▁in ▁a ▁hand b asket ." ▁ ▁Although ▁" tr ick le - down " ▁is ▁commonly ▁mentioned ▁in ▁reference ▁to ▁income , ▁it ▁has ▁been ▁used ▁by ▁econom ist ▁Arthur ▁Ok un ▁to ▁refer ▁to ▁the ▁flow ▁of ▁the ▁benefits ▁of ▁innov ation , ▁which ▁do ▁not ▁acc r ue ▁entirely ▁to ▁the ▁" gre at ▁entrepr ene urs ▁and ▁invent ors ," ▁but ▁trick le ▁down ▁to ▁the ▁masses . ▁More ▁precisely , ▁Nobel ▁prize ▁econom ist ▁William ▁Nord haus ▁estimates ▁that ▁innov ators ▁are ▁able ▁to ▁capture ▁only ▁an ▁extremely ▁low ▁ 2 . 2 ▁percent ▁of ▁the ▁total ▁sur plus ▁from ▁innov ation . ▁Cir cling ▁back ▁to ▁income ▁" tr ick le - down ," ▁the ▁sur plus ▁from ▁innov ation ▁can ▁take ▁the ▁form ▁of ▁g ains ▁in ▁real ▁w ages , ▁which ▁are ▁spread ▁throughout ▁the ▁economy , ▁according ▁to ▁Nobel ▁prize ▁econom ist ▁Paul ▁Rom er . ▁In ▁particular , ▁econom ist ▁William ▁Ba um ol ▁arg ues ▁that ▁" the ▁bulk