Local growth evolutions: recession, resilience and recovery

Change is one of capitalism's constants. It never stands still, but is in a state of constant churning, as old firms, products and technologies decline or disappear, and new firms, products and technologies emerge. It is this constant process of mutation and flux, what Schumpeter famously called 'creative destruction' , the 'perennial gale' of structural and technological change, that drives the evolution of the economy, "incessantly destroying the old one, incessantly creating a new one" (Schumpeter, 1942, 83). But this process is unlikely to be spatially neutral: the new does not necessarily emerge in the same places where the old is destroyed. Nor need it be synchronised in time: though over the medium to long run, creative aspects outweigh the destructive (otherwise, development would not occur), there may be episodes when destructive effects outweigh creative effects, especially in particular places. Furthermore, change under capitalism may be ongoing and incessant, but it is not simply incremental. The growth and development paths of an economy are punctuated and disrupted periodically by major shocks,