NOTHING IS NEW

Moral:

Physician-investors with a senseof history can look on the recent corporatescandals with a feeling ofrecognition. It's all happened before,going back to the nation's earliestdays. Alexander Hamilton decriedwhat he called "knaves" and "unprincipledgamblers."The so-called "robberbarons" of the late 19th Century,including John D. Rockefeller, JayGould, and J.P. Morgan, earned thatnickname in spades, and theRoaring 20s saw the rise of CharlesPonzi, the man who gave his nameto pyramid schemes, which promisehuge profits and pay off originalinvestors with new money thatpours in from the unwary. In the1980s, Ivan Boesky and MichaelMilken added their names to WallStreet's Hall of Shame. Now theywill have to make room for newarrivals, like WorldCom's BernieEbbers, Tyco's Dennis Kozlowski,and several members of Adelphia'sRigas family. Greed and dishonestyare timeless.