Billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn sits on the boards of several tech companies, including XO Communications(XOHO.OB) and Yahoo! Inc.(YHOO) As such, Icahn has gained a unique view of the financial meltdown that has brought the American economy to its knees.

In an editorial published in The Washington Post’s Feb. 16 edition, Icahn calls out defenders who say boards of directors don’t share some of the blame for the recession.

“A board member should be able to understand when a company is leveraged up to 40 times the value of its assets, as some were. In my view, many were just not doing their jobs,” Icahn wrote. He added, “Our disastrous market meltdown makes clear that it is high time for shareholders to demand and receive more accountability from the boards and managements of their companies.”

Icahn is the board member who wanted Yahoo! to sell to Microsoft Corp. and who didn’t get on the board of Motorola Inc., a seat for which he fought hard in 2007.