Final answer:
The statement is false; while there were budget surpluses in the late 1990s, the overall trend includes increased deficits and wealth concentration at the top, with a declining middle class.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that 'over the last 40 years, trickle-down economics generated surpluses, diminished the debt, ended poverty, and created a thriving middle class' is false. While the federal government did experience budget surpluses from 1998 to 2001, the overall trend has been increasing budget deficits, particularly during the early 2000s and after the Great Recession of 2008. Furthermore, in terms of income distribution, wealth has become more concentrated at the top, with corporate profits and CEO pay rising sharply, while median income for most segments of the population has stagnated or declined. The size, income, and wealth of the middle class have also been in decline since the 1970s, a trend that was not necessarily reversed in recent years, despite the recovery from the Great Recession.