Interesting article by David Cay Johnston in the Sunday New York Times:  The Ultra-Rich Give Differently From You and Me:

Philanthropy, like foie gras, is an acquired taste. And Warren Buffett embraced charity with extraordinary gusto last week, announcing that he would give away 85% of his $44 billion fortune. His megagifts, like many of his investments, buck the popular trend. Giving by the richest Americans has fallen in recent years, with the biggest declines at the very top, based on deductions Americans take on their tax returns. Among Americans who at death left a taxable fortune of $20 million or more, the average charitable bequest fell by $2 million, or 9 percent, from 1995 to 2004.

Almost alone among rich Americans, Mr. Buffett has argued that estate taxes should be increased, not eliminated. Mr. Buffett says the estate tax helps build a vibrant economy of innovators and strivers — a true meritocracy — and that repealing it would risk a stunted economy controlled by aristocratic inheritors. Repealing the estate tax, he has said, would be the economic equivalent of "choosing the 2020 Olympic team by picking the eldest sons of the gold-medal winners in the 2000 Olympics."

[Click on chart to enlarge.]