A Rough Estimate

At a pinch, I would guess that the financial services industry has spent more than $2 trillion dollars on information systems, computing power, and investment expertise over the last thirty years. The end result has been a net decline in alpha. Every penny spent has actually resulted in a net decrease in ability to produce above market results. Notch that up to the "paradox of skill."

What would be interesting also, is to gauge how much the industry has spent on sales and marketing. 

One day I am going to take a much closer look at these areas and get a better idea of the money spent (compared to the amount of value added for investors).