Who is John Galt?

The question that permeates Ayn Rand’s legendary Atlas Shrugged has a peculiar resonance at the moment for financial services in general and for hedge funds in particular. Those unfamiliar with the cult novelist may not be aware of the significance.

The moral justification of capitalism does not lie in the altruist claim that it represents the best way to achieve “the common good.” It is true that capitalism does — if that catch-phrase has any meaning — but this is merely a secondary consequence. The moral justification of capitalism lies in the fact that it is the only system consonant with man’s rational nature, that it protects man’s survival qua man, and that its ruling principle is: justice.
Ayn Rand, “What Is Capitalism?"

Rand’s