This draws together some conclusions about the importance of the experiment in economic regionalism of the inter-war years and its achievements. It suggests a more positive assessment than that made by some recent historians. The pre-1940 economic regions sowed the seeds for future development. The inter-war regions operated in an unfavourable climate when economic liberalism and suspicion of government intervention was the prevailing orthodoxy. Also continual economic crises meant that the government and private industry were short of funds for investment. The conclusion suggests that the economic regions shifted the focus of regionalism in France towards economic modernization and away from a backward looking attachment to regional cultures. It also links this evolution of regionalism to the development of the French state and the growth of intermediate bodies between the state and the citizen.