According to the 1994 article: Bahamas; Ireland; Hong Kong; Singapore; Belize; the Cayman Islands; Israel.
Israel?
As much as I respect the Israelis, I will pay the US taxes rather than be blown up.
Hong Kong?
I have no desire to kiss the butts of the ChiComs.
Bahamas? Belize?
Nope.
Ireland?
Might not be bad but what are the current tax rates?
Those are just a few. But, it demonstrates the type of mostly stable countries where most American expats are investing and/or living. Also, most of those countries, with one notable exception, rate higher on the various freedom scales than the good ole US of A.
You will note that most (though not all) of those countries have quite stable governments. Several are major countries. Others are part of the British Commonwealth. Yet others are long-standing island paradises. When did you ever hear of a coup in Tahiti, the Caymans or Bermuda?
Trinidad and Tobago is very stable and English speaking. Even though they have a coup every 20 years or so, their coups have never resulted in a single death or significant change in policy. In fact, the people even have coup parties for a few days. The last time there was a coup, they didn't even stop the soccer playoff that was going on just across the Green from Red House (their congress). I felt much safer walking alone on the streets of Port of Spain than on the streets of Los Angeles, Kansas City or Chicago. Oh yes. It's out of the hurricane path, too.
Belize is a very stable, English speaking member of the Commonwealth, that has been independent from Britain since 1981. Property is still reasonably low priced, both on the mainland and beachfront island properties. The cost of living in Belize is about 20% to 25% of what it costs to live in the US. For those who want to go back and forth to the US, there are several flights every day to the US and it's only 2 hours from Houston or Miami. It also offers the longest coral reef and the greatest variety of dive sites in this hemisphere. The people are wonderful and again, I felt safer there than in US cities.
I did include Panama, because some wealthy Americans, who are still here, put a portion of their money in Panama, because of the extreme secrecy of Panamanian Private Interest Foundations and the fact that it will be very difficult for the US government to make such vehicles illegal, without adversely affecting other foundations that they want to protect. Panama also has a very large expat community that helps fund the nation, so regardless of who is running the country, it behooves them to protect those expats.
I included Cuba, because there is tons of money being made there by Europeans, while US citizens are prohibited from such investments. It may be considered risky. But, most investors in Cuba only invest a small portion of their wealth there. Most investors do believe, however, that whoever is invested there when Castro dies, will soon find themselves extremely wealthy. But, that will certainly not include any American citizens.
Nevis is primarily a banking center. It the smaller of the two islands that form the single nation of Nevis and St. Kitts. Nevis has very little commerce, other than banking. St. Kitts, on the other hand, has a small banking sector and more exports. Neither seems to offer enough to attract Americans to live there, although they do offer a very good economic citizenship program. Until recently, Nevis was one of the very best banking centers for privacy. But, last year, they did make some concessions to the totalitarian OECD. Even so, they still rank quite high as a banking center.
Notice also, that to US citizens, even high-tax jurisdictions like Canada and the United Kingdom are considered havens. That is because they don't tax the offshore income of their citizens, like the US does. But, the Inland Revenue of the UK is taking lessons from the IRS, so the UK may not last long as a haven for Americans. After all, most wealthy expats are more concerned about privacy than taxes.
The best general advice seems to be to spread your wealth around, thus eliminating the possibility of losing everything due to a single event. But, that only works if you are not a US citizen. Remember, as a US citizen, your money isn't safe anywhere in the world, if the government wants it.
For more information, check out Escape Artist and Sovereign Society as good starting places. Sovereign Society offers a great report on Second Passports. I just got the latest updated version a month or so ago. It was $99 and well worth it, if you are considering going offshore or just getting a second passport for safety reasons.
I hope this helps.