As a part of my job, my boss is having me read The Chronicle of Philanthropy. The latest issue contains an interesting article, “Charity’s Political Divide.” It discusses Arthur Brooks’ book on the correspondence between political views and giving to charity. He “finds that religious conservatives are far more charitable than secular liberals, and that those who support the idea that government should redistribute income are among the least likely to dig into their own wallets to help others.” And lest you say that the disparity in numbers is caused by the giving to religious institutions: “even when religious giving is excluded from the numbers, Mr. Brooks found, religious people still give $88 more per year to nonreligious charities.” Interesting.

An update on Turkey is forthcoming!