ABSTRACT
The fact that sections of economic geography are devoted to, for example, local economic trading schemes (LETS) and Community Development Finance Initiatives (CDFIs) as alternatives to capitalism is akin to 'fiddling while Rome burns' in the economic turmoil of the current decade. To re-engage with the big issues of the day, economic geography needs to begin to re-explore the financial system, the meaning of manufacturing in a globalised world, IPR and inimitability, jurisdictional laxity, transaction governance and major labour market questions. The eight sets of economic issues are major areas where economic geography can engage with and reinforce understandings of the local and regional impacts of the changing global economy and to inform policy to counteract recession and slow economic growth. Finally, in the global economic shifts of the past decade, the nature and dynamics of labour markets, including skill formation, unemployment and job creation, have changed substantially.
