LOS ANGELES, July 2, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The University of Southern California will convene world experts looking past the global economic recessions to a potential "long boom" in the first USC Global Conversation, Oct. 9 in London.

The event will explore "The Future of the Global Economy" and feature keynote speaker The Right Honorable Jack Straw, Member of Parliament, along with USC leading scholars from USC and other international economic experts. USC Provost Elizabeth Garrett will host the event.

Speakers  include:

• Lord John Eatwell, president of Queens' College, Cambridge
• Manuel Castells, international expert on globalization and the information society, one of the most cited communication scholars in the world, and holder of the USC Wallis Annenberg Chair in Communication Technology and Society
• Sir David Anthony King FRS, former chief scientific advisor to the H.M. Government
• Pip McCrostie, global vice chair of transaction advisory services at Ernst & Young
• Hashem Pesaran, professor of economics, leading expert on econometrics and long run structural modeling, Fellow of the British Academy and holder of the USC John Elliott Chair

USC deans in attendance include:

• James Ellis (Marshall School of Business), Marilyn Flynn (School of Social Work), Madeline Puzo (School of Dramatic Arts), Ernest James Wilson III (Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism), Yannis Yortsos (Viterbi School of Engineering).

The program will examine key aspects of the global economy to identify positive opportunities.  USC organizers believe that the prospects for a long economic boom depend on two major policy advances: an exceptional international effort to encourage high levels of investment and innovation; and a dramatic improvement in international cooperation on access to technology, integration of markets and meaningful environmental transformation.

Panelists will consider the potential for a "long (economic) boom" from three perspectives:
An examination of key factors likely to determine whether or not a long-run economic boom is possible in the future, focusing on the United States and other western economies as they interact with the developing economies of Asia and South America;
A discussion of specific driving forces likely to accompany economic growth over the next 20-30 years; and
A consideration of the way domestic and transnational policy choices are likely to influence conditions for the 21st century "long economic boom."

To be held at the London Marriott Hotel in Grosvenor Square event from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 9, the event represents the first USC Global Conversation, to be held in alternating years with the USC Global Conference (scheduled for May 2013 in Seoul).  

The rise of new challenges—political and social changes, sustainable energy solutions, opening of new markets—will require ingenuity, knowledge, and a convergence of the business, research, and policy sectors. As a leading institution of higher learning with the most international students of any American university, USC contributes context and expertise to the ongoing discussion of the world's economic future.

For more information on the USC Global Conversation, visit http://uscinlondon.usc.edu

ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

The University of Southern California is one of the world's leading private research universities. An anchor institution in Los Angeles, a global center for arts, technology and international trade, USC enrolls more international students than any other U.S. university and offers extensive opportunities for internships and study abroad. With a strong tradition of integrating liberal and professional education, USC fosters a vibrant culture of public service and encourages students to cross academic as well as geographic boundaries in their pursuit of knowledge.

ABOUT THE KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Jack Straw, British Labour Member of Parliament and former UK Foreign and Home Secretary, has been a member of Parliament (MP) for Blackburn since 1979. He served as Home Secretary from 1997 to 2001, Foreign Secretary from 2001 to 2006 and Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Commons from 2006 to 2007 under Tony Blair. From 2007 to 2010 he was the Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain and the Secretary of State for Justice, appointed as part of Prime Minister Gordon Brown's first Cabinet. Straw is one of only three to have served in Cabinet continuously from 1997 to 2010. 

SOURCE University of Southern California