Can Industrial Policy Help Revive Struggling Regions?
Economic inequality continues to widen—and not just between people, but between places, too. The United States, for example, has seen a regional divergence since the 1970s, when the country began transitioning away from heavy manufacturing and toward a service-based economy, resulting in dampened economic prospects and living standards throughout the Rust Belt. The widening chasm between richer and poorer regions has motivated policymakers in multiple countries to offer incentives, like…