「经济学人」Marley's ghost

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Marley's ghost How to get money from Ebenezer Scrooge Get him to leave a gift in his will THOSE with exquisite taste in Christmas films will be familiar with the scene in “The Muppet Christmas Carol” in which Dr Bunsen Honeydew and his sidekick Beaker solicit Ebenezer Scrooge for a donation to the poor. Scrooge refuses and is then haunted by three ghosts who remind him of the importance of having a charitable heart. British fund-raisers are experiencing similar difficulties to Muppets. The Charities Aid Foundation, which tracks charitable giving in Britain, reported that 58% of people donated in 2023, down from 69% in 2016. Businesses are also giving less. Although profits from Britain’s top companies have grown by 13% over the past decade in real terms, their charitable giving has declined by 34% over the same period. And yet the need, if not quite Dickensian, remains great. A study published in early 2024 by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, for example, suggested that more than ………………………………