A gas station in Los Angeles on March 10. Mike Blake/Reuters

Life at $4 a gallon

	By Claire Brown

Average U.S. gasoline prices hit $3.98 per gallon on Tuesday, according to AAA, on the cusp of a level that was last hit when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

The last month has seen the second-largest gas price spike in three decades, with average prices climbing more than 30 percent since the war in Iran effectively shuttered the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway that conveys up to a fifth of the world’s oil.

Though there’s no hard and fast rule that dictates exactly what choices consumers make at $4, $5, and $6 per gallon, higher gas prices are already stressing household budgets. At $4 per gallon, more than half of Americans said they’d change their driving behavior, according to a 2022 survey by AAA. More recent data has also shown that Americans are delaying some forms of spending.

The energy shock has hit Asia hardest: The Philippines declared a state of emergency on Tuesday, and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said grounding planes because of a jet fuel shortage was a “distinct possibility.” South Korea is urging citizens to ride bicycles instead of driving.

Transportation, of course, is the single-largest source of planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, and a big contributor globally. Here’s what we know about how a long period of high gas prices could change how willing people are to drive gas-powered vehicles, both here and abroad.

Driving less, window-shopping

Already, Americans are looking for ways to cut back. In New Orleans, drivers are lining up at gas stations with the best prices. Michele Tafoya, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in Minnesota, encouraged people to take “one less trip to Starbucks.” The state of Georgia has implemented a fuel tax holiday, waiving a 33-cent-per-gallon tax.

When gas prices spike, drivers tend to respond by cutting out unnecessary trips, by car-pooling and using public transportation, according to AAA. Spending on discretionary expenses like plane tickets and restaurant meals has fallen, too, as transportation costs eat up a bigger share of household budgets.

Yet while plenty of people who own electric vehicles have been boasting about their fuel savings on social media over the last few weeks, gas prices would have to stay high for a much longer period of time to trigger a broader shift away from gas-powered vehicles, according to Stephanie Valdez Streaty, research and development director at Cox Automotive, a research firm.

Still, the war in Iran appears to have driven a modest uptick in E.V. curiosity among U.S. drivers, according to the car shopping site Edmunds. If high prices persist, more people may feel the urge to hop off what Jessica Caldwell, the head of insights at Edmunds, called the “gas price roller coaster.”

New E.V.s in the U.S. are still more expensive than gas-powered cars, but the gap is closing for used vehicles. In February, the average listing price for a used E.V. was $34,821, about $1,300 more than a gas-powered car, Valdez Streaty said.

Hundreds of thousands more used E.V.s could enter the market this year as leases expire, Valdez Streaty said. “Consumers are going to have a lot of good options at a lower price point,” she said.

The global E.V. tipping point

If you’re curious about buying whether the economics of buying an E.V. are in your favor, The Times has a calculator that can help. The math looks very different abroad, where gas price shocks have been more intense and E.V.s are often far more affordable than in the U.S.

The scales could tip fastest in countries with access to inexpensive Chinese E.V.s, like Brazil, parts of Asia and soon, Canada, wrote David Brown, the director of energy transition research at Wood McKenzie.

In Vietnam, for example, gas prices have risen by around 30 percent since the start of the conflict. But the increase coincides with a rapid increase in the share of electric cars sold each year as government incentives meet affordable options from local manufacturers.

In December, the Vietnamese E.V. maker VinFast broke records when it reported the highest monthly sales volume ever recorded by any automaker in the country. Its best-selling car last year, the VF 3, hit the market in 2024 at just under $13,000.

VinFast has begun offering discounts of 3 to 5 percent to people switching from gas-powered cars and scooters, Reuters reported.

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A new fantastic work of political, dystopian fiction in the spirit of George Orwell’s 1984, though not as dark, Agenda 2060: The Future As It Happens entertains, enlightens, and astonishes as it provides some insights and answers.

In the book, the World Government’s Agenda 2060 is a prescription for a utopian society whose ideals are difficult to argue against. But, as this story demonstrates, ideals can have unintended consequences. With the unique benefit of hindsight, and the aid of quantum computing, author A.I. Fabler provides a picture of society in the year 2060, following decades of cultural wars, in his new book. Its ending may force each of us to rethink our long-held views.

As the author follows their every move, protagonists Professor Jordan McPhee (now de-platformed) and his star pupil, Alexa Smythe, a poster girl for the Deep State, struggle with the challenges of Identity Politics, Free Speech, Global Warming, Cancel Culture and The Great Financial Reset that underpin the high ideals enshrined in the World Government’s rule book: The Twelve Articles of Agenda 2060.

https://agenda2060.com/

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The post New Zealand native A.I Fabler provides a picture of 2060 in this provocative political novel that answers the question…Will the world survive today’s “Woke” Agenda? appeared first on Good News!.

—Barbara Thole, Hong Kong, Founder, The Executive Forum “This book crackles with the familiar electricity of unspoken truths about China and its relationship with the US. Its many keen observations and insights surge forward at an irrepressible pace, as if mirroring the rapid change it is describing. It is a prophetic window into the future and a sound handbook for what to do when we get there.”

—Hu Maomao, Beijing, Partner, Eigen Capital
China is surging in the tech race — and will continue to outperform the United States. The rising power has done exceptionally in Super Apps, bullet trains, 5G, electric vehicles, digital currency, smart cities, blockchain applications, and quantum communications in space, among others. Its payment platforms are increasingly adopted along the entire Silk Road. The genesis of this book was to discover an “Apollo Program” for the US to catch up in these areas, but we discovered a much deeper need for a social/mental health Apollo Program for millennials who are bogged down by a host of under-appreciated and intertwined issues which cause anxiety and alienation and lead to massive losses in workplace productivity. This book proposes two Apollo programs — one for tech and one for millennials — by a millennial. Strategies for cracking the highly competitive Chinese Super App e-commerce market are also revealed.

“Paul looks at how technology is shaping our world through two defining lenses. The first is the generational shift in the adoption of technology and the second is the geo-political machinations between China and the US. How this plays out will define the world we live in!”
—Rob Jesudason, Hong Kong, CIO, Serendipity Capital (former President of Block.one)

“No person can tie the sociological, political, financial and technical issues at hand better than Paul. He once again tells of revolutionary and evolutionary changes that can only be ignored at one’s peril. If you don’t think that Paul is accurate in his assessments, then reread this book 18 months from now.”
—Frank Wang, Hong Kong, Former Co-CEO of OCBC Wing Hang Bank

“This book offers insight into today’s most important issue: the tech race, and why the West is losing. Schulte’s unique position at the intersection of tech, mental health, and where East meets West gives him an unparalleled understanding of why the West is losing the tech race, and what to do about it. As a Western millennial living in China, I witness the accuracy of Paul’s thesis every day. My only hope is that all Western business and political leaders read this before it’s too late.”
—Corentin Trebaol, Paris, CEO, Aconia Group

“Amazon is changing not only our buying lives but, also, our managing models. Brian Dumaine takes us inside the enterprise to see exactly how Jeff Bezos and his legions are doing it, sourcing anything in sight by overnight or less. A game-changer, the company has become one of America’s most omnivorous and disruptive start-ups ever. Buy Bezonomics today.”
—Michael Useem, Professor and Director of the Wharton Leadership Center, University of Pennsylvania

“Perhaps the most valuable aspect of Schulte and Groves’ research is not just the emphasis they place on powerful novel technologies, but the way in which this technology is placed in conversation with larger cultural and policy challenges that stifle US progress in the international community. Millennials have experienced America in the midst of one of her greatest failures, and the need to remedy and rebuild this divisive generational rift is paramount for the success of her future.”
—Jason Kang, Cambridge, Mass, Fellow, Narang Labs, Harvard University

“Few people can bridge the east and the west, the millennials and the older generations better than Paul Schulte. Well-written, brilliant and balanced, this book offers a timely insight into the frontiers of technology and the two leading countries: US and China in their quest for global leadership in the age of new technologies.”
—Ben Shenglin, Hangzhou, Professor & Dean, International Business School & Academy of Internet Finance, Zhejiang University

The Race for 5G Supremacy: Why China Is Surging, Where Millennials Struggle, & How America Can Prevail
By Paul Schulte
Hardcover : 260 pages
ISBN-10 : 9811218706
Product Dimensions : 6 x 0.63 x 9 inches
ISBN-13 : 978-9811218705
Publisher : World Scientific Publishing Co (June 15, 2020)

Paul Schulte first went to China as an equity analyst with Credit Suisse in 1992. He has analyzed seven five-year plans and has conducted research on Chinese equities for over 25 years having worked with Barings, Lehman, Nomura and China Construction Bank Intl. in Hong Kong. He has also been teaching millennial graduate students on five continents since 1999. He has written three books on China’s technological rise and has taught in China at Tsinghua, Fudan and Zhejiang universities. He also worked at the White House National Security Council, the House of Representatives, and the International Trade Commission. He was also an advisor to the Indonesian Minister of Finance in the 1980s.

#paul #schulte #race #5g #supremacy #china #surging #america #prevail #millennials #struggle #tech #space #state #affairs #social #white #house #security #council #finance #hong #kong #analyst #credit #beijing #rapid #change

The post The Race for 5G Supremacy: Why China Is Surging, Where Millennials Struggle & How America Can Prevail By Paul Schulte appeared first on Good News!.

As another flu season rapidly approaches, the need for fast, accurate flu testing is more important than ever.

The flu, or influenza, is a highly contagious viral infection that attacks the respiratory system, and is sometimes mistaken for the common cold, making it difficult for people to receive the treatment they need. With rapid flu testing at the point of care, people can be diagnosed and treated for the flu within minutes, right at their doctor’s office or nearby walk-in clinic.

The flu spreads easily and can pose serious risks for certain groups, including some of our most vulnerable populations – children, pregnant women, elderly adults and people with chronic disease or weak immune systems. According to the CDC, in the U.S. there are an estimated 9.3 to 49 million flu cases each year. The flu and its complications cause as many as 960,000 hospitalizations every year, and according to recent data from the CDC, nearly 80,000 people died from the flu last year.

It’s important to get tested by a doctor if you think you have the flu. Antiviral medications that attack the flu virus work best when administered early – within 48 hours of the onset of symptoms – and speed your path to recovery. And knowing now means you can take precautions from spreading the flu to others if you are infected.

Medical experts say it’s never too early or late to begin preparing for the flu season, especially given the last flu season was so brutal. Since flu season is incredibly unpredictable, making sure you and your family are prepared is for everyone’s benefit, not just your own.

The post THE LIFE-CHANGING TECHNOLOGY THAT CAN HELP YOU & YOUR FAMILY GET THROUGH THIS FLU SEASON appeared first on Good News!.

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