Rethinking Regional Development

This chapter articulates the research problem that economic growth in the EU since the 2008 global financial crisis has made the EU ostensibly successful, yet we continue to see pervasive well-being problems in the EU. Despite a large literature on EU spending effects on growth, we know little about how the EU can use its budgetary resources to enhance well-being. Well-being and related concepts such as inequality, inclusive growth, and social investments, have been extensively studied in the welfare state and social policy literature, but not in relation to EU spending. This chapter describes how the book fills this knowledge gap. It presents the book’s main argument and contribution, introduces the empirical context of EU spending in which the inquiry is undertaken, and summarizes the main evidence in the context of a chapter synopsis.