Do the ultra-rich really give more?

The recent Slate 60 index of the year's leading philanthropic donors indicate that the 60 leading U.S. donors gave away $51 billion in 2006.

These donors had an estimated combined net worth of $630 billion last year, meaning that they gave away 8 percent of their money, on average. Sounds magnanimous, until you consider that the Dow Jones industrial average rose 16 percent in 2006 - which suggests that, as a group, the leading donors contributed less than they gained.

Now subtract Warren Buffett and his generous gift from the group, and the rest of them begin to look downright miserly, handing to others a mere $7 billion of a combined net worth of $584 billion - or slightly more than 1 percent.

Numbers from the philanthropy watch organization Giving USA show that Americans as a whole annually give away about 0.5 percent of their net worth. So, except for Warren Buffett and his generous gift, society's top givers donate to others at only a tad higher rate than the population as a whole. That's, well, pathetic. And that's just counting top givers, not the super-rich who give away little or nothing.

[Excerpt of an article by Gregg Easterbrook, The San Jose Mercury News]