Billions: public goods are untapped wells of profit
[Scene: Axe Capital trading floor. Bobby Axelrod strides in, energy crackling around him. The team—Taylor Mason, Wendy Rhoades, and Mike "Wags" Wagner—is gathered around the conference table. Bobby remains standing, dominant, while others are seated.]
Bobby: (slams hand on table) You know what separates the fucking winners from the also-rans? Seeing what others don't. And right now, I'm seeing something that'll make us a fortune while everyone else is chasing their tails.
Wags: (leaning back, intrigued) Let me guess—not another crypto play? Those NFT guys are still crying into their Ethereum.
Bobby: (with predatory smile) Public goods, Wags. Public fucking goods.
Taylor: (eyebrow raised skeptically) You want us to bet on... government services? That's not exactly in our wheelhouse.
Bobby: (pacing, intense) That right there—that knee-jerk dismissal—is why we'll clean up. Everyone thinks public goods are charity cases. I'm telling you they're untapped wells of profit. Japan's bullet trains run with 12-second average delays nationwide. Twelve. Fucking. Seconds. You know what that precision is worth to their economy? Billions. While we're sitting in gridlock burning money.
Wags: (grinning) Bobby Axelrod, champion of the people. Never thought I'd see the day.
Bobby: (shooting Wags a look) This isn't about holding hands and singing kumbaya. This is about making America competitive again—and positioning Axe Cap to ride that wave. We're hemorrhaging capital through inefficiency. Healthcare—$12,742 per person annually, nearly double what other developed nations pay. For worse outcomes! You know what that is? That's a market failure. And where there's market failure, there's opportunity.
Wendy: (nodding) The psychological toll is measurable too. Commuter stress, medical bankruptcy fears, educational anxiety—all drags on productivity. People can't perform at peak when they're drowning.
Bobby: (pointing sharply) Exactly, Wendy. You can't squeeze blood from a stone. Our economy's choking on these inefficiencies. Canada spends half what we do on healthcare. Half! Their businesses don't carry that weight. Meanwhile, American companies are getting crushed under healthcare costs while their global competitors invest that capital in R&D and expansion.
Taylor: (pulling up figures on tablet) The numbers support your thesis. Public transportation investment shows a 5:1 return ratio in urban areas. Every dollar spent on early childhood education returns approximately $7 in economic benefits. Even accounting for government inefficiency, the arbitrage is significant.
Bobby: (with intensity) It's not just significant—it's fucking massive. This country has trillion-dollar sinkholes everywhere you look. Suburban sprawl alone costs us a trillion annually in lost productivity, health impacts, and fuel waste. That's capital that should be generating returns, not evaporating on highways.
Wags: (skeptical) So what's the play? We can't exactly buy the New York subway system. Though... (mischievous grin) that would be one hell of a power move.
Bobby: (with calculated precision) The play is threefold. One: strategic investments in public-private partnerships—infrastructure, healthcare tech, educational technology. Two: policy leverage—make sure our voice shapes how these investments unfold. Three: position our portfolio to capitalize when these efficiencies hit the broader economy.
Taylor: (thoughtfully) We could create a specialized fund. Target companies that would benefit from more efficient public systems. Healthcare firms with preventative models. Construction and engineering for transit. EdTech that scales quality teaching.
Bobby: (snapping fingers) That's it. While everyone else is betting against America's infrastructure, we bet on its revival. Singapore figured this out decades ago—world-class public systems driving a powerhouse economy. Their healthcare delivers better outcomes at one-quarter our cost. Their public housing builds wealth for citizens. Their transit system is so good most people don't even need cars.
Wendy: (strategically) We should frame this as economic patriotism. America falling behind isn't just bad policy—it's bad business. Our competitors are eating our lunch because they've built systems that work.
Bobby: (with razor focus) That's the pitch. This isn't some bleeding-heart crusade—it's cold, hard capitalism. Better public goods mean healthier workers, faster commerce, more innovation, less waste. It means an America that can actually compete with China instead of rotting from the inside. The math is undeniable—education gaps alone are costing us potentially $20 trillion in unrealized GDP by 2050.
Wags: (warming to the idea) We could back some strategic municipal bonds, lobby for specific infrastructure bills, maybe even fund a think tank or two. Shape the narrative.
Bobby: (nodding) Now you're seeing it. This isn't about socialism—it's about removing friction from capitalism. Every minute wasted in traffic, every preventable hospital visit, every talented kid who doesn't get educated—that's all just pissing away our competitive edge.
Taylor: (practical) Implementation will be the challenge. Political obstacles. Incumbents with vested interests in the status quo.
Bobby: (with predatory certainty) That's why we don't wait for permission. We build the models that work, prove the concept, then scale. Start with charter cities, innovation zones, special economic regions if we have to. Show that intelligence applied to public goods creates wealth. Make it impossible to ignore the results.
Wendy: (nodding) The psychological impact would be profound. A country that actually works gives people confidence, stability, the mental bandwidth to innovate and create.
Bobby: (laser-focused) It's leverage, pure and simple. The right public goods investments amplify everything else in the economy. They're not expenses—they're force multipliers. And while everyone else is fighting yesterday's ideological battles, we'll be positioning for tomorrow's returns.
Wags: (raising imaginary glass) To Bobby Axelrod, the secret fucking socialist.
Bobby: (sharp grin) Capitalist, Wags. Just one who can count past the next quarter. Get Dollar Bill and Mafee in here—we need to start mapping out sectors and targets. Anyone who can't see this opportunity doesn't belong at this table.
[As the team disperses with new purpose, Bobby remains standing, staring at the global markets board, seeing patterns and opportunities invisible to others.]
Bobby: (to himself) The game doesn't change. Just who's smart enough to play it right.