The Economist has an interesting article on how, in its view,  IT has had a role to play in the financial crisis. I have to agree with some of the analysis.

Whether the financial industry would have hit the brakes if it had had digital dashboards showing banks’ overall exposures in real time is a moot point. Some managers might not have even looked.

Yet most in the industry agree that its woeful IT systems have, in Mr Banziger’s words, “exacerbated the crisis”. The industry spent billions on being able to trade faster and make more money, but not nearly enough on creating the necessary transparency.