The lesson humble sea urchins offer about economic resilience

The internet helped us survive the pandemic, but the next crisis could be different. When COVID-19 struck in 2020, the scenes that followed were almost apocalyptic - the shops closed, roads empty, and we all had to adapt to life indoors. It was expected to take a heavy toll on the economy. However, the actual output fell only by 13 per cent, which is less than half of what was initially expected. Two years later, through the story of Jamaica's sea urchins, Tim Harford explores what it means to unlock potential capital, adapt to unanticipated vulnerabilities and the now endangered ecosystem of the office.