The point is not that the absolute number is high or that it has any net effect on the number of American citizens. The point is that the number sky rocketed f

The point is not that the absolute number is high or that it has any net effect on the number of American citizens. The point is that the number sky rocketed from basically nobody to thousands of people because FATCA is such a draconian, terrible law. In absolute terms, only about 3.5% of Americans even travel abroad each year let alone live abroad. We could put a wall around the entire country and refuse to let anybody leave and a majority of Americans would not care. A majority of American citizens don't even have passports in the first place. The small minority of people who live and travel abroad perform a very important function for US industry and international relations. Making life more difficult for them for no good reason is bad for our economy.