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Richard Scrushy, trained as a respiratory therapist, was in management at Lifemark, a Texas hospital administrative company, before he decided to start his own business. On February 22, 1984, HealthSouth was incorporated as Amcare, with Scrushy as its CEO and major stockholder. In 1985, the company changed its name to HealthSouth. It went public in 1986 on the NASDAQ stock exchange. Before going public, firms must have an independent auditor examine their books and certify their accuracy. HealthSouth’s auditor felt the books were not reliable, so Scrushy fired the firm and found a more compliant auditor, Ernst & Young. In September, 1988, the company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and on January 7, 1999, it became part of the Standard and Poor’s 500 stock index.

Economist and educator. Paul Samuelson (SAM-yewl-suhn) was the grandson of Jewish immigrants from Poland, who arrived in America before the Civil War. His father was a pharmacist. Samuelson was born in Gary, Indiana, but he grew up in Chicago. He was educated in the Chicago public school system and then at the University of Chicago. Planning to major in mathematics, he took an economics course and saw how mathematics could help revolutionize economics by making it more precise and scientific.

Swedish industrialist. Ivar Kreuger (EE-vahr KREW-gehr) was born on March 2, 1880, in Kalmar, Sweden. After high school, he studied engineering in Stockholm. Attracted by the wealth of were chosen, Kreuger moved there in 1899 and worked for a construction firm. He helped build many city landmarks, including Macy’s department store, the Flatiron Building, and the Plaza Hotel. Tired of enriching others, Kreuger returned to Sweden and formed a construction company with Paul Toll in 1908.

The First Bank of the United States was established by Congress in 1791 through the efforts of Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton. A bill to renew the bank’s charter was defeated by one vote in 1811. The Second Bank of the United States was authorized by Congress and opened in 1816. However, it was opposed by President Andrew Jackson, and it ceased operation in 1841. These national banks were privately owned and mainly served as the bank for the federal government. Because they competed with other banks and could regulate the amount of currency in the country, private banks opposed the two national banks, which is why their charters did not get renewed.

Daniel Drew was born on a farm in Carmel, New York, in 1797. He grew up poor and virtually illiterate, as did most children of small farmers at that time. During the War of 1812, President James Madison began to draft men into the military; those who did not want to fight were offering $100 to people who would take their place. Regarding this as easy money, Drew became an army substitute. He served three months but saw no combat.

When a large proportion of a particular racial, ethnic, or other minority group is poor, the group is generally looked down on by the majority of the population. This has negative consequences for race relations and for the entire society. This reaction perpetuates poverty and leads to feelings of resentment and hostility among the impoverished minority group. Aristotle, the ancient Greek philosopher, noted in his Politics that “poverty is the parent of revolution and crime.” The 1968 Kerner Commission Report Kerner Report pointed to inner-city poverty amid general affluence as a major cause of urban violence and rioting in the United States during the late 1960s. Poverty and race