So, Who Actually Built That?

I’m sure most of you have already heard of the “You didn’t build that” line from President Obama’s speech from a couple of weeks back. If not, check out there video here.

In my opinion, if you just take the “You didn’t build that” line out of context, it makes it sound bad and like the President is being condescending. However, just listening to the whole speech, I see the point he’s trying to make. The point of his speech (at least, what I took away from it), is that you didn’t build that Alone. What I mean by this, is not that somebody directly helped you build your business, but that the building of your business was made successful by having the proper infrastructure and environment available and stable.

I found this picture last night and thought it was kind of humorous and had a point. The point the picture is trying to make is that despite the fact that you built your business directly, there was indirect help and access provided by the government.

 

However, just like concentrating on the “You didn’t build that” line from the speech, this picture (along with the criticism of just that line) also misses another major point.

WE Built that. What I mean by this is that there is a social construct between the  private and public sectors. Ultimately, at the end of the day, the private sector is the engine of the economy. However, the engine is not useful unless there is a body it can go in, and you can think of that body as the public sector (government).

Imagine trying to build your business in Somalia, Haiti, or Bangladesh (nothing against these countries personally, I could use many others as examples). These countries have a horrible environment and infrastructure to build a business in. Doesn’t matter how hard-working, determined or smart you are, your private-sector business will likely fail (or possibly not even be plausible) in these countries because of the public-sector failures.

Now, I’m not here to argue what makes a successful “partnership” or what the right type of balance is (regulations, taxes, etc). I’m here to make the point that WE built that. A successful public sector made your private-sector business successful.

 [Note: I don't mean we physically or directly helped you build your business. Please do not read it that way.]

 

Tags: $MACRO

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