Of hype and hyperbolas : introducing the new economic geography

Abstract

I take the publication of The Spatial Economy by Fujita, Krugman and Venables as an opportunity to expound and assess the "new economic geography". I use a simple diagram to show how the basic model works; give a self-contained algebraic derivation of the main results; note some interesting extensions; comment on some weaknesses of the model, which make it less suitable than might at first appear for discussing issues of industrial structure; try to place the field in relation to "old" economic geography and to the theory of international trade; and discuss its empirical and policy implications.