Historically, Melbourne's western suburbs were known as industrial areas suffering from relative disadvantage when compared to the rest of the metropolitan area. But economic commentators have claimed that a resurgence has occurred in the west, in terms of industrial investment and employment generation, since the mid-1990s, due to increasingly globalised economic connections which have reversed the region's previous disadvantages. This article engages with these 'western resurgence' claims in three ways. First, it examines the recent economic history of the western region, relative to global economic processes. Second the article examines the empirical basis for the reported recent economic resurgence in the west. Finally, the article concludes with some observations concerning regional economic development under contemporary global processes.