[kendallpark]

> It may be the country's Christian leanings that contribute to this

Maybe so. I was taught to tithe 10% of everything I earned starting with my grade school allowance. 10% to God (which could go to a church or charity) and 25% to the bank. Everything else got spent on Legos and whatnot.

Fast forward twenty years (I'm 25) and I still siphon away 10% of my income into a separate account that I save for either church donations or charitable causes. At that point the money isn't really "yours" or at least that's what is typically taught in Christian culture. Makes it a lot easier to spend it on others.

[willmacaskill]

Yeah, I seem to recall that the US gives a similar % of income as other countries once you subtract out donations to churches and to universities, which are both a much bigger thing than in other countries.

[hkmurakami]

You're probably thinking of other Western countries. Remember that most Western countries have moral code derived from Christian morals.

What I mean is that if you look at countries with say top 50 GDP, many of them will be much lower than the "other western countries".