A distinction between people prosperity and place prosperity is common in the regional economics and urban policy literatures. In this paper, I criticize the distinction on the grounds that a radical distinction between people and place can only be made if one adopts an economic ideology that ‘commodifics' people and places. Government policies that rest on the distinction are presented from England, Canada, and the United States of America to illustrate the consequences of this type of thinking and the justification it provides for antisocial private and governmental investment decisions.
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