The release of Giving USA, the yearbook of American philanthropy, has stirred much debate.

Robert Frank on the Wall Street Journal‘s Wealth Report writes that he was surprised that support for human services declined in 2006 while giving to the arts and cultural groups rose.

“I’m a huge fan and supporter of the arts, and I’m not bashing gifts to museums or cultural programs,” he writes. “They are important. But too often, the gifts by today’s rich are designed to impress other rich people, rather than solve the deeper problems of the poor.”

One thing Mr. Frank doesn’t consider in his blog is that part of the decline in gifts to human-service organizations is due to Hurricane