A piece in today’s New York Times by Brian Knowlton reports that a growing number of overseas Americans are renouncing their citizenship. See “More American Expatriates Give Up Citizenship.”  Although the numbers are a small fraction of the estimated 5.2 million U.S. citizens living abroad, the number of renunciations increased from 235 in 2008 to 743 in 2009.  In most cases, the decision is made for financial reasons, including  tax and banking issues.