A commenter on Transterrestrial Musings said it well...

SpaceX has done nothing short of amazing. For some $100 million they developed 3 whole new engines (Merlin, Kestrel, Draco), done several Merlin upgrades which could be considered new engines by traditional companies (new turbine, regenerative cooling), developed two or three new launchers (if you count Falcon 1e as a new launcher), develop launch infrastructure in three different sites. It just boggles the mind. This will certainly change the view of any future entrants in the field.

Just think about expensive no-fly NASA boondoggles like the soon to be cancelled or radically changed ARES job stimulus program.