But what's the cause of such meltdowns and who should be

blamed for causing such financial malaise among American

much-respected financial leviathans?
　　
John Helyar, co-author of Barbarians at the Gate, a tour de

force wowed by business people and journalists worldwide,

offers his own thoughts on the gremlin of current financial jitters

 or chaos on Wall Street.
　　
"It's a good deal clearer how we got here. Wall Street went off

and did what Wall Street does best. It takes a good idea and

overdoes it to such excess that it becomes a very bad idea.

Nothing new about that. In the late 1980s, the Street was

infatuated with leveraged buyouts. The fever was fueled by junk

 bonds, that creation of Drexel Burnham Lambert whiz Michael

Milken, giving acquirers access to cheap debt and making LBOs

 so profitable. The recession of 1990-1991 was a hangover from

 1980s excesses," writes John Helyar in his recent column
　　
Then erudite John Helyar goes on to point out the real culprit of

current financial fiasco plaguing the American financial system.
　　
"So creative investment bankers decided to develop a new

business, securitizing and trading existing assets. The asset of

choice was mortgages. After all, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

had already created markets. All that needed to be done was

add some profitable wrinkles and rock 'n' roll. Wall Street

mortgage wizards could convince investors, and themselves, of

the great liquidity and low risk of this market. They didn't have

 to work too hard at it. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan

Greenspan was a cheerleader for non-traditional mortgages and

 he kept interest rates at a minuscule 1 percent. Yes, the model

worked great, right up until the housing boom grinded to a halt.

The subprime carousel did likewise soon thereafter. People

 would learn how illiquid these assets were," writes John Helyar
　　
So, what's the big lesson those gurus and impostors working on

 Wall Street can learn from the current financial trouble

hammering America?
　　
No hubris, suggests John Helyar, who is my most fave financial

writer, mind you.