What’s the use? What can mainstream economic development contribute to low-income communities?

Economic development (ED) scholars take pride in tracing their roots to the Founding Fathers, beginning perhaps with Alexander Hamilton’s First Bank of the United States in 1792 (Cohen & DeLong 2016). Hamilton’s model of “ED” apparently served the young nation well, at least through the eras of canal- and railroad-based development (Immergluck 2004). Like most fields of study or practice, ED strategy has progressed through a series of dominant styles or models in particular eras (Miller 2009).