>>>>>>The limits on passing money aren't working. They have to be stronger.
>>>>>
>>>>>People do smart things with their own money.
>>>>>People do stupid things with their own money.
>>>>>
>>>>>So, you would like laws to prevent people from doing stupid things with their own money?
>>>>
>>>>I'd like to be sure that people with great wealth have done something to earn it.
>>>
>>>So, a rich person can't give huge gifts to a charitable foundation for what he estimates are worthy causes?
>>>The foundation has done nothing to earn the money, at least yet, and may never succeed.
>>
>>That's basically what Warren Buffet and Bill Gates have done, and I think that's a good idea.
>>Most charitable foundations that have been around for awhile are as bloated and inefficient as some government agencies, so Gates and his wife started their own foundation with about $40 billion and Buffet contributed another $40 billion to it.
>>Yes, they may or may not succeed and it's not clear that society will benefit from it, but I still think it's better than passing that kind of money on to heirs.
>
>Who gets to decide what is a worthy cause?

We have a process that determines whether a given organization is a charity, that is, whether donating to it is tax-deductible. Seems like that process is society deciding.

I also think Bill is drawing a distinction between what people do with their money in their lifetimes and what happens to what's left afterward.

Tamar