Morocco's Economic Model

Morocco’s New Model Economy
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/morocco-development-story-improvisation-not-grand-schemes-by-abdelmalek-alaoui-2026-04
Africa’s future will not be written by countries waiting for perfect conditions. It will be written by countries like Morocco, which made the most of its undesirable post-colonial inheritance to become not only an economic success story but a potential model for others to emulate.  

Sequencing Risk

In retirement, volatility is the price of better returns
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/04/23/in-retirement-volatility-is-the-price-of-better-returns/
Tom Stevenson:
The issue of a market downturn in early retirement is called “sequencing risk”. It refers to the way in which the same set of annual investment returns can have a vastly different impact on your retirement, depending on the order in which they occur.
Two investors drawing an income from their pension pots can end up with two very different amounts of money if they experience the same annual returns but in a different sequence.
An investor who starts their retirement with a few bad years in the market will have a much worse outcome than one who starts with a few good ones, even if the performances are subsequently reversed. “Bad then good” is much more damaging than “good then bad” when you are simultaneously taking money out of your savings to live on. 

Gen Z and the Labor Market

There’s Another Reason Gen Z Can’t Find Work 
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/22/opinion/gen-z-job-ladder.html 

Immigration Economics - Theory versus Reality

What Everyone Got Wrong About Jobs and the Immigration Crackdown
https://www.wsj.com/economy/jobs/immigration-crackdown-labor-market-fcfed2d6
More than a year into President Trump’s immigration crackdown, there is little evidence of widespread disruptions in the labor market, or of meaningful benefits to American workers. 

International Comparison of Gasoline Prices

Why Gasoline Is So Much Cheaper in the U.S. Than Overseas
https://www.wsj.com/economy/why-gasoline-is-so-much-cheaper-in-the-u-s-than-overseas-f6bd2309
Even as prices at the pump have remained elevated, American consumers are paying less than many of their counterparts in Europe and Asia. 

EM Brands

As U.S. Brands Stumble, China Wins Over Young Indonesians
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/23/business/china-brands-indonesia.html
A new generation of Indonesian consumers view Chinese brands as high-tech and of good quality, a departure from the days when “made in China” was associated with cheap goods.  

Cost of Home Ownership - Shifting Patterns

The Tables Have Turned: Florida, Texas Biggest Losers in Housing as Ohio Shines
https://www.fa-mag.com/news/the-tables-have-turned--florida--texas-biggest-losers-in-housing-as-ohio-shines-86718.html
 
Home Insurance Costs Hit America's Heartland the Hardest
https://www.fa-mag.com/news/home-insurance-costs-hit-america-s-heartland-the-hardest-86711.html 

Related:

Florida’s Population Boom Fizzles as High Costs Drive Away Middle Class
https://www.wsj.com/economy/floridas-population-boom-fizzles-as-high-costs-drive-away-middle-class-fbc6a345
Orlando and other Florida cities are either losing domestic migrants or gaining them more slowly, threatening the state’s economic model.