It was ruled in court to be illegal in 1919 in the Dodge vs Ford lawsuit.
At the time, Ford himself wanted to:
“My ambition is to employ still more men, to spread the benefits of this industrial system to the greatest possible number, to help them build up their lives and their homes. To do this we are putting the greatest share of our profits back in the business.”
But shareholders (both Dodge brothers of the Dodge car company) sued against this and in the end the judge declared that:
“A business corporation is organized and carried on primarily for the profit of the stockholders. The powers of the directors are to be employed for that end. The discretion of directors is to be exercised in the choice of means to attain that end and does not extend to a change in the end itself, to the reduction of profits or to the nondistribution of profits among stockholders in order to devote them to other purposes.”
Basically, if you attempted trickle down economics, you’d be “stealing” from the shareholders. Extra money is to be given to shareholders as dividends, not for boosting the pay of your employees if it doesn’t involve adding more profits to the bottom line.
It was ruled in court to be illegal in 1919 in the Dodge vs Ford lawsuit.
At the time, Ford himself wanted to: “My ambition is to employ still more men, to spread the benefits of this industrial system to the greatest possible number, to help them build up their lives and their homes. To do this we are putting the greatest share of our profits back in the business.”
But shareholders (both Dodge brothers of the Dodge car company) sued against this and in the end the judge declared that: “A business corporation is organized and carried on primarily for the profit of the stockholders. The powers of the directors are to be employed for that end. The discretion of directors is to be exercised in the choice of means to attain that end and does not extend to a change in the end itself, to the reduction of profits or to the nondistribution of profits among stockholders in order to devote them to other purposes.”
Basically, if you attempted trickle down economics, you’d be “stealing” from the shareholders. Extra money is to be given to shareholders as dividends, not for boosting the pay of your employees if it doesn’t involve adding more profits to the bottom line.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_v._Ford_Motor_Co.