The notion is that when taxes go down, charitable giving rises, but giving has remain stagnant as taxes dropped for the wealthy; who is to blame for the low level of charitable giving?
"Another Giving Tuesday is upon us, which offers yet another occasion for collective handwringing over the stagnant levels of charitable giving in the United States, as measured as a percentage of GDP.
"While some have suggested we live in a “golden age” of philanthropy, that’s only true insofar as lots of interesting new donors have been arriving on the scene with big money and big ideas. To date, though, this influx has done little to increase the overall flow of charitable giving as a share of national wealth. Last year, charitable donations climbed to a new high of $358 billion, but even that impressive figure barely added up to more than 2 percent of GDP, which has pretty much been the ceiling on charitable giving over recent decades.
"So who’s to blame for this stagnant level of giving?"--David Callahan, Inside Philanthropy
