Did data disclosure play a role in financial crisis?

There is much disagreement on this question. Naturally, Wall Street blamed disclosure of balance sheet information. Others say the data disclosed through the current accounting method may be misleading. Some experts agree with Charles Mulford who said disclosure "helped to make this crisis less of a crisis, if that's possible."

In the midst of the nation's current financial crisis -- including Monday's historic 777-point Dow drop and Congress's efforts to bail out the financial services industry -- transparency has been a key part of the debate: how much should be disclosed, when and by whom.

Last week, Wall Street blamed its woes in part on accounting rules that require regular release of balance sheet information. To wit: one article on the issue bore the headline, “Wall St. Points to Disclosure As Issue.”

Some experts say the problem is not that banks and other financial services companies are required to give out more data than before, or that they’re not following the rules, but others disagree.

More here.