I can't see any other reference to this but there is a whole field of study on this. See e.g. https://www.amazon.com.au/Cost-Disease-Computers-Cheaper-Hea... or google "cost disease".

One thing I have noticed is the incredible increase in the cost of regulatory compliance over the years.

It can take years to get the dozens to hundreds of approvals needed. Vast armies of people are needed to document and monitor compliance.

At a large bank where I worked, I analyzed the previous $600 million in IT projects. $350 million of that $600m was on compliance projects.