Four of the world’s five most charitable nations also rank among the ten most economically free, a comparison of a pair of studies finds. The Charities Aid Foundation released its annual World Giving Index on Wednesday. The survey ranks the nations of the world according to a definition of charity that includes direct donations to charitable organizations, volunteer work, and the helping of strangers in need. The world’s five most charitable nations, according to the report, are, in order: the United States, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. …
Congress soon will seal the fate of federal death taxes. If Congress acts by doing nothing, then the federal tax rate on estates will fall to zero for all of 2010 before rising to 55 percent on January 1, 2011. That’s current law. On the other hand, it could pass legislation to set the tax rate above zero for 2010. That zero rate has a number of people worried, including executives of some of the nation’s largest non-profit organizations, who think that a one-year repeal of death taxes will undermine …
