So there’s no small irony in the fact that Clinton campaigned on granting legal status to the unauthorized-immigrant population and raising the minimum wage. Both policies would surely yield benefits. However, under a higher wage floor, many employers will choose to rely on a smaller number of more skilled workers augmented by machines rather than a larger number of low-skill workers, and the disemployment effect of higher minimum wages would be particularly pronounced for low-skill immigrants. In a similar vein, Clinton called for higher taxes on capital income, which would have hit affluent professionals hardest; protectionist measures that might have cut against the interests of U.S. multinationals; and policies that would have had the effect of increasing transfers from Trickle-Down America to Stagnant America. It’s not unreasonable to surmise that her agenda would have undermined the sources of Trickle-Down America’s dynamism. Indeed, it’s easy to imagine that a Clinton presidency would have seen a deepening of Trickle-Down America’s divides as the interests of its high-income and low-income residents diverged.

For now, though, Trickle-Down America’s affluent professionals find themselves in a sweet spot, which surely accounts for some of Clinton’s triumphalism. The food is better. Beautiful old houses are being renovated everywhere you turn. An abundance of low-wage immigrant labor adds diversity and dynamism to cosmopolitan cities, yet the noncitizen working class isn’t in a position to press for a more egalitarian social order—one that could prove discomfiting for local elites. Best of all, opposition to Trump is helping to obscure simmering discontent over Trickle-Down America’s business model.