Key Takeaways
- • Andreessen Horowitz co-founder Marc Andreessen argues that Western institutions failed to prepare for the coronavirus pandemic because of a failure to build, not solely a failure of foresight.
- • The essay cites shortages of coronavirus tests, test materials, ventilators, negative pressure rooms, ICU beds, surgical masks, eye shields and medical gowns, with New York City reportedly seeking rain ponchos as medical gowns.
- • Andreessen contends that the U.S. government, despite passing a $2 trillion coronavirus rescue package in two weeks, has no direct mechanism to transfer money quickly to laid-off workers and small businesses.
- • The piece calls for large-scale investment in housing, education, manufacturing, transportation, energy and healthcare, framing building as the remedy for rising costs and the erosion of the American dream.
- • Andreessen calls on both the political right and left to support building, with the right urged to fight crony capitalism and regulatory capture and the left urged to prove public-sector delivery.
Summary
Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), published an essay titled "It's Time to Build" on April 18, 2020, arguing that every Western institution was unprepared for the coronavirus pandemic despite prior warnings. He characterizes the failure as one of action as much as foresight, specifically a widespread inability to build. He argues the problem spans political parties and national borders rather than a single government or ideology.
Andreessen points to acute shortages of coronavirus tests and test materials, including cotton swabs and common reagents, as well as ventilators, negative pressure rooms, ICU beds, surgical masks, eye shields and medical gowns. He notes that New York City had issued a call for rain ponchos to serve as medical gowns. He also cites the roughly five years needed to gain regulatory approval for a new Ebola vaccine after the 2014 outbreak as evidence of slow deployment. In the financial domain, he states that the U.S. lacks a direct method to transfer federal bailout money to laid-off workers and small businesses without potentially disastrous delays, despite the $2 trillion rescue package passed in two weeks.
The essay extends the critique to housing, where Andreessen cites skyrocketing prices in San Francisco, to education, where he questions the limited capacity of top universities relative to the roughly 4 million 18-year-olds in the U.S. annually, and to manufacturing, where he argues that the country knows how to build highly automated factories. He also points to transportation, citing the absence of supersonic aircraft, high-speed rail and flying cars. He argues that money and technical competence are not the binding constraints, attributing the shortfall to desire, inertia, regulatory capture and will.
Andreessen calls for bipartisan action. He urges the political right to fight crony capitalism, regulatory capture, ossified oligopolies and investor-friendly buybacks in place of customer-focused innovation, and to back aggressive investment in new products, industries and factories. He challenges the left to demonstrate that the public sector can deliver better hospitals, schools, transportation and housing, citing the VA as a possible starting point. He proposes building nuclear reactors to address climate change and says that the rising price of housing, education and healthcare can be reversed only through construction. The essay concludes with a call for individuals across sectors to ask what they are building.
Andreessen points to acute shortages of coronavirus tests and test materials, including cotton swabs and common reagents, as well as ventilators, negative pressure rooms, ICU beds, surgical masks, eye shields and medical gowns. He notes that New York City had issued a call for rain ponchos to serve as medical gowns. He also cites the roughly five years needed to gain regulatory approval for a new Ebola vaccine after the 2014 outbreak as evidence of slow deployment. In the financial domain, he states that the U.S. lacks a direct method to transfer federal bailout money to laid-off workers and small businesses without potentially disastrous delays, despite the $2 trillion rescue package passed in two weeks.
The essay extends the critique to housing, where Andreessen cites skyrocketing prices in San Francisco, to education, where he questions the limited capacity of top universities relative to the roughly 4 million 18-year-olds in the U.S. annually, and to manufacturing, where he argues that the country knows how to build highly automated factories. He also points to transportation, citing the absence of supersonic aircraft, high-speed rail and flying cars. He argues that money and technical competence are not the binding constraints, attributing the shortfall to desire, inertia, regulatory capture and will.
Andreessen calls for bipartisan action. He urges the political right to fight crony capitalism, regulatory capture, ossified oligopolies and investor-friendly buybacks in place of customer-focused innovation, and to back aggressive investment in new products, industries and factories. He challenges the left to demonstrate that the public sector can deliver better hospitals, schools, transportation and housing, citing the VA as a possible starting point. He proposes building nuclear reactors to address climate change and says that the rising price of housing, education and healthcare can be reversed only through construction. The essay concludes with a call for individuals across sectors to ask what they are building.
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