Fill ’er UpIt does sound rather counter-cultural. $20 a gallon when you fill up in America is the recommended price.
This is not suggested because oil-producing Emiratis hate Americans. On the contrary, they may well show their love for Americans by bumping up the oil price. Here is the rationale.
Expensive Gas is Good for Americans
Author, Christopher Steiner, claims that higher gasoline prices will make the USA ‘healthier and safer’.
According to his calculations, for every $1 that gas rises at the pump, American obesity rates drop by 10% because people walk more and they don’t patronize the fatty, fast food, drive thru restaurants as much.
Steiner suggests there will be lots of other benefits and all in all, “the future will be exhilarating.”
From the Horse's Mouth
Read the author’s summary and promotional spiel.
Read some of the reactions that are posted on Metafilter, the site that alerted me to this wonderful new book.
Responses range from ‘interesting' (such a neutral word) to 'bullshit' (‘bovine excrement’ as Robin Williams calls it) and to 'wild speculation.'
As for me, I am yet to read and review this book but at the moment I accept this author’s theory 100%. It will be good for the UAE—we need some lifting from the financial doldrums—and it will be great news for all my American friends, colleagues and students. I want them to become healthy and I want America to become a safer country.
If His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum proposes a hefty increase in the price of UAE oil he has my vote and total support. Everybody is a winner. God bless the UAE and God bless America.
Are you in favor of this recommendation?
Dr Geoff Pound
Geoff can be contacted by email at geoffpound(at)gmail.com on Facebook and Twitter.
Image: The cover of $20 Per Gallon.
