I would expect a few people to have some fairly large giving numbers. The American people (not necessarily the government) happen to be the most charitable on earth and that is something that they should be proud of.
Sounds good. Apple pie and all. We are always the greatest and best in all regards. I doubt we are the most charitable people on earth. Any proof? We have had many threads in the past that show the US is not that great in foreign aid.
I too would like to see some proof of this - it's pretty hard to verify this at all, and there is some contravening evidence This article discusses it. http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2676 Regardless does it actually matter? Say that it is true - if public giving (due to higher taxes) plus private giving in country A is higher than public giving (due to lower taxes) plus private giving in Country B - can Country B claim to be the "most generous?" solely based on an assumption based on its private giving? I really don't think so.
Seeing as I did not itemize last year the number is $0. My cash donations would be <$50. Gave a lot to Goodwill, including some new stuff, so I would have non-cash.
As I understand it, the United States government is not all the high on the list as far as "giving" countries as far as foreign aid goes. However, American people contribute a very high amount of money, number 1 in the lists, both in real dollars, and as percentage of GNP, to charitable organizations such as churches, charities, education, environmental groups, medicine, etc. I have read several articles and seen several graphs about this. I will have to dig these back out through google again, I think they have been posted here before and will when I get a chance later. I do think its not that much of a stretch to believe that American people, with relatively lower taxes than most industrialized nations, a large GNP, and historically high employment would be at the top of the list when it comes to charitable giving. EDIT: Here is a 2006 study of the top nations giving: http://www.cafonline.org/pdf/International Comparisons of Charitable Giving.pdf There are other articles out there if you look around, including a few slamming the US for not giving enough as a nation, but then giving Americans as individuals credit. Also, I don't think the US is the best in everything, but when we are, its OK to be a little bit Rah, Rah about it. I think Americans often get slammed as greedy people, yet I don't think that's true at all. I think a huge percentage of Americans are very generous people.
