How charities and religion (should) solve the problem of social spending
Note: This post was also published at the Adam Smith Institute blog . A few weeks ago I noticed an inequality index I wasn't aware of before. It is a report called the World Giving Index , published annually by the Charities Aid Foundation . The aim of the report is to show which countries are most likely to give donations to charities and therefore, which nations are most open to a privately offered system of fighting poverty. It is done by a set of surveys that ask citizens worldwide whether they have in the last month donated money to charity, volunteered or helped a stranger in any way. One would expect that the outcome would see countries with strong welfare states topping the list, as they have a much better sense of social capital developed than the 'ruthless' US, where self-interest and greed allegedly drive the incentives of individuals. Well, surprisingly, or not surprisingly at all, the US tops the list, followed by other Ang...