Troubling Times-The GFC and its Implications for Regional Performance. Part One: The United States And Europe

The Global Financial Crisis (GFC) was a profound exogenous shock which has had profound impacts the performance of national economies and the regions within them. The differential outcomes are vast. In many parts of the world there is evidence of what is being referred to as the ‘two-speed’ economy - or even a ‘multi-speed’ - economy. This has implications for regional economic development theory in which, over the last two to three decades, there has been an increasing emphasis on endogenous growth with much of the emphasis in regional policy focusing on the roles of leadership and institutional factors to harness improved capability for regions to better utilize their resource endowments. However, shocks such as the GFC change the relative influences of exogenous and endogenous processes in regional development and performance, and the ‘two-speed’/’multi-speed’ economy phenomenon is posing a challenge for how we conceptualize and practice regional development. The contrasting empirical contexts for discussing the impacts of the GFC are the US, Europe and Australia.