WHAT IS THE MAIN CULPRIT OF THE ECONOMICMALAISE?

Last week's GlobeSt.com Quick Poll asked readers to choosewhat they thought is the main culprit of the current economicsituation in the US. A total of 57% of voters responded that greedbrought us to this point, while 32% claimed it was creativefinancing and 11% blamed the media. Barbara Liberatore-Black is theprograms director for Commercial Real Estate Women Miami andfounding principal of CresaPartners corporate real estate serviceadvisors in Miami. Liberatore-Black, who was recently named one ofRealEstate Florida's Women of Influence, tells GlobeSt.com heropinion on the main cause of the economic malaise.

"Of the three options, definitely greed. However this greed wasexacerbated by a complete lack of regulatory oversight as well as ashort-sighted perspective that the bubble would last forever. Thisperfect storm of, one, the regulators being woefully behind inunderstanding the ever more complex financial instruments and, two,Wall Street's institutional amnesia that high growth is neversustainable, created cheap and plentiful credit that turnedconsumers into a generation of debt junkies.