Long-run Patterns for Industries and Areas

Abstract

Centre-periphery patterns distinguished in the previous two chapters are related in Section 1 to the persistence of areas of deprivation alongside areas of prosperity. In Section 2 the fragility of central workers’ status in the long run is discussed, along with the consequences of this fragility for area patterns. While centre-periphery patterns have always marked capitalist societies, the particular groups of workers with central status have been changing continually. The broad long-run pattern of relative prosperity for areas within Britain reflecting this fragility is briefly examined in Section 3.