ABSTRACT
The correct response to the all-encompassing process of globalization, as most critics have realized, is to reconnect economic relationships with their regional basis. Most regionalization schemes attempt to either compensate for or work alongside the globalization process, or they consist of measures to make national economies more attractive locations from which to do business. Large – sometimes disproportionately so – quantities of public money are spent on such projects, including airports and facilities for trade fairs, without considering whether the new capacity is really needed. In many cases, it is regional economic policy designed to ensure global competitiveness that puts the regions at the mercy of globalization in the first place. If regionalization is to be an adequate response to globalization, it must take a completely different course: there must be a revitalized circular flow of goods and services at the local level, so that more activities can be taken out of increasingly global supply chains.
