The University of Southern California is one of the US's most prominent universities, with alumni including over 150 recipients of the Pulitzer and Nobel Prizes, Academy, Emmy, and Grammy awards, as well as the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The following article first appeared in the INOMICS Handbook 2021. Download the INOMICS Handbook On a visit to the London School of Economics in November 2008, the Queen asked her hosts why no one had seen the financial crisis coming. It took the professors nine months to come up with an excuse, put forth in a letter in July 2009:

One of the key features of the global economy is that it tends to grow over time. In fact, that growth has become something of an expectation in the modern capitalist system, where the success of corporations is often judged by their growth, even over relatively short time horizons.

Islands bring to mind a particular vision of beaches, coconuts, and relaxation that’s hard to beat. Many people think of them as the ultimate vacation destination, and indeed tourism is important for many islands. Yet due to their unique geography, most islands in the world face a set of economic challenges that many mainland nations don’t experience.

With university life still suffering major disruptions and COVID fatigue reaching new heights, we at INOMICS felt it time for the latest instalment in our ‘online course’ series.