Wall Street Journal wealth columnist Robert Frank, author of “Richistan: A Journey Through the American Wealth Boom and the Lives of the New Rich,” said the recession had helped spur America’s rich to search for new status symbols.
“Yachts, private jets, seaside mansions are so 2007,” Frank wrote recently. “But being wealthy enough and generous enough to get on the Giving Pledge list may quickly become the ultimate badge of status — both in the U.S. and abroad.”

If philanthropy really is the next version of owning a private jet, what does that mean? Is a real change in how people, at least people of means, relate to their money really happening? Will that change impact the rest of us?
According to Jewish tradtion, even the poorest among us are obligated to give tzedakah, charity. Could it be that wealthy Americans are catching up with an ancient tradtion which has always know that giving is as important to building up the giver as it is to building up the receiver?
What do you think this trend is all about?