Anyone who is familiar with Ayn Rand's writings has probably read her book, "Atlas Shrugged." One of the main characters of the book was a wealthy industrialist named John Galt. In the book, Galt gets the leading industrialists of his day (the book was written in 1957) to "go on strike." Galt convinces them to disappear from their overtaxed, over-regulated society and move, unseen to a producers' paradise, where each was free to succeed or fail on their own merits.

Today, there are many wealthy men and women who are "disappearing" from U.S. shores.

Based upon a study conducted several years by Merrill Lynch, it was found that in 2002, the number of US millionaires had fallen by 100,000. This may not be too difficult to understand; after all, the US was in the midst of a major bear market. But the report also showed that 200,000 millionaires suddenly appeared outside US borders!

As of this writing, the 2004 numbers aren't available yet. But in Merrill's latest study, over 228,000 new millionaires cropped up outside of US borders in 2003! And here's what's most surprising: Over 70% of the world's 7.7 millionaires now reside outside the US!

The question is "How is this possible?" After all, isn't America still the richest country in the world and the unrivalled land of opportunity?

True, the US can still be a great place to get rich. However, soon it may no longer be the best place to be rich!

One of the problems in the US is that it leads the world in lawyers and lawsuits. The chances of an individual getting sued are at least 1 in 4 in the next five years. And the wealthier the person is, then the more those odds increase. Should anyone own a small business or have a net worth in excess of $500,000, then they have a 25% chance of getting sued in the next twelve months!

Taxes here in the US are higher than over 40 countries, and more than double that of some industrialized countries. And guess what: the wealthier you are, the higher your tax rate.

And the right to privacy is getting weaker every day. Using the excuse of combatting money laundering and international terrorism, branches of the US government are empowered to look into bank accounts, the internet, etc. In most cases, it's not hard to find out who you are (and what you own) with a few clicks of a mouse. And in the past few weeks, legislation has been proposed that would turn drivers' licenses into virtual National Identity Cards.

According to an article in the British newspaper The Observer, an estimated $11.5 trillion (more than US GDP!) is now held in offshore havens

But, not to worry, the millionaires in this country haven't truly disappeared. Just like Ayn Rand's hero, John Galt, most American millionaires are still among us.

It's just, by "lying low", using stealth and other means to protect themselve, their wealth and achievements are now being concealed from prying eyes.

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