Energy Price Spikes, Russian Retaliation, and Covid Mutations

Tax Policy:

April 29: IRS faces new pressure to develop free online tax-filing system

Following two chaotic tax filing seasons resulting in tens of millions of unprocessed returns, the IRS is being urged to develop more free online tax filing tools instead of doubling down on a decades-old program that prevented the agency from competing with private tax preparers. Since 2002, the IRS has been bound by a noncompete clause in an agreement with Free File Inc., a group of private tax preparation companies that until recently included industry giants H&R Block and Intuit, maker of the popular software TurboTax.

Now, the Government Accountability Office, the U.S. government's internal watchdog, is saying the IRS should reconsider a range of requirements in the program and work instead to "Develop additional options for free online filing of tax returns that would reflect current guidelines for federal digital services." In a report published Thursday, the GAO said that "Stakeholders had different views on whether maintaining the current program or IRS developing its own online filing system would provide a better experience for taxpayers. Regardless, the IRS is not managing the risk of relying on the Free File program as the way it helps taxpayers file for free online."

The 21st Century Integrated Digital Experiences Act passed under the Trump administration, made numerous requirements relating to digitizing government services and forms that the IRS should get in line with, according to the GAO. While about 70 percent of taxpayers are eligible to use the program to file taxes free of charge, only 3 percent do a statistic that backs up criticism that the program is a stalking horse for the tax prep industry.

"Congress needs to prohibit the IRS from having this arrangement with the private sector tax prep industry," Frank Clemente, director of the left-leaning advocacy organization Americans for Tax Fairness, said in an interview. Some conservative tax advocacy groups have long stood behind the Free File program, arguing the private sector is needed to deal with the complexity of the tax code.

Build Back Better Act/Spending Bill: 

May 2: Housing investments at risk as Build Back Better withers

The path forward for the critical housing investments Democrats sought to protect in the Build Back Better Act is getting murky, as uncertainty hangs over the party's chances of passing its partisan package amid resistance from Sen. Joe Manchin. Pressed about potential talks on housing action through reconciliation, Sen. Sherrod Brown, chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, said he and others are "Continuing to push" for those investments but wouldn't divulge further where they fit in the current state of play.

Sarah Saadian, senior vice president of public policy for the National Low Income Housing Coalition, called the proposed $150 billion in housing investments laid out in the $2.2 trillion version of Build Back Better that passed the House last fall a once-in-a-generation opportunity. Though Democrats failed to meet party goals to pass the proposed housing investments last year, lawmakers were able to secure more than $65.6 billion in budget authority in appropriations bills for fiscal 2022 for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, up to $5.32 billion from the previous year.

In a summary breaking down the funding, Democrats said more than half of that increase was "Necessary to preserve rental assistance for the more than 5 million HUD-assisted, low-income households to meet market-rate rent increases." Additionally, the legislation offered $280 million for 32,800 housing vouchers, $1.5 billion for new affordable housing production via the HOME program, $4.8 billion for community and economic development, and more than $1 billion for the Native American community housing programs.

In an interview, Will Fischer, senior director for housing policy and research at the CBPP, said he thinks lawmakers could lean more into the annual appropriations process as a vehicle for "Substantial" action on housing in certain areas this year, noting "Bipartisan support in the past for expanding the housing voucher program."

Rep. David Price, the chairman of the House Appropriations housing subcommittee, also acknowledged the limitations negotiators have in securing the housing funding needed in annual appropriations bills, which he noted: "Are almost by definition incremental improvements."

April 29: Manchin’s moves leave Democrats doubting their agenda will pass

Several Democratic senators say they are growing dispirited about the prospect of Manchin ever giving the green light to move a budget reconciliation package, which would prevent Republicans from blocking Biden's legislative agenda with a Senate filibuster. The banter between Manchin and his Republican colleagues is reinforcing doubts that he will not sign on at any point this year to a partisan reconciliation package to enact major elements of Biden's domestic agenda with 50 Democratic votes and no GOP votes.

Adding to Democrats' concerns, Manchin has convened a bipartisan group of senators in an attempt to pass a package of energy proposals that would also address climate change with 60 votes under regular order.

Now the climate and energy piece of the reconciliation package is competing with what Manchin is trying to negotiate with a group of Republicans.

Sen. Mark Kelly, who attended the first bipartisan meeting convened by Manchin on energy and climate proposals, told The Hill there's "a lot of overlap" with what's been discussed for inclusion in the reconciliation package. 

Asked if the bipartisan energy package he's putting together is intended to replace the strategy of moving an energy and climate package in a budget reconciliation bill, Manchin told The Hill: "We're trying to get input from everybody. I want input." Manchin says an energy package needs to support the production of fossil fuels as well as renewable energies, a tack that puts him in conflict with Whitehouse and other Democrats who view the reconciliation package as their best opportunity in perhaps the next 10 years to reduce global warming emissions in a big way.

Economic News/Policy: 

May 3: Get Ready for Another Energy Price Spike: High Electric Bills

The national average residential electricity rate was up 8 percent in January from a year earlier, the biggest annual increase in more than a decade. In Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, and New York, rates are up about 15 percent, according to the Energy Department's latest figures.

The Energy Information Administration, a federal agency, forecasts that rates a year from now will average about 15 cents a kilowatt-hour, or $150 a month for the typical household that uses 1,000 kilowatt-hours.

"You're going to see more and more people doing that kind of thing, especially if rates become unreasonable," said Mr. Popik, who is the chairman and president of the Foundation for Resilient Societies, a nonprofit group that focuses on critical equipment and services like electricity, fuel, telecommunications, and aviation.

Mr. van Welie of ISO New England said federal and state officials needed to come up with policies that lowered the cost of energy, including by using renewable energy more efficiently.

Rates in the first two months of the year were lower than a year earlier in fewer than a dozen states. Most were in the Midwest and Northwest — areas that rely extensively on wind or hydroelectric power, which tend not to be affected by the swings of global commodity markets. In Oregon, for example, electric rates fell almost 1.5 percent in January and less than 1 percent in February, though some companies like Portland General Electric did raise rates modestly.

The Energy Information Administration expects average electricity rates to fall to about 10.5 cents per kilowatt-hour by 2030 and roughly 10 cents by 2050 because of the greater use of renewable energy.

May 1: Economy Week Ahead: Federal Reserve, Interest Rates, and Employment in Focus

Monday: The Institute for Supply Management’s survey of purchasing managers at U.S. factories is forecast to show another month of expanding activity in April as manufacturers strove to meet the high demand for their products while dealing with rising materials costs and wages as well as transportation bottlenecks that have hampered access to supplies.

Wednesday: After a slight narrowing in February, the U.S. trade deficit in goods and services likely widened to a record in March as American businesses and consumers slaked their demand for capital goods, cars, computers, food, and other products by purchasing them from overseas.

Federal Reserve officials are poised to raise the benchmark interest rate by half a percentage point and approve plans to start shrinking the central bank’s $9 trillion asset portfolio. The moves are part of a double-barreled effort to slow the economy and ease inflation, running at a four-decade high.

Thursday: The Bank of England is expected to announce its fourth rate increase in as many meetings of its policy-making body as inflation rises to levels last seen three decades ago. But with surveys pointing to a slowdown in consumer spending as recent tax increases squeeze household incomes, policymakers might signal that they don’t intend to go much further.

Friday: U.S. employers added an average of 562,000 jobs a month in the first three months of the year, a historically solid pace that has brought employment nearer its prepandemic level, pushed the unemployment rate toward a 50-year low, and driven wages higher. The Labor Department’s employment report for April is expected to show another strong month for job gains. Economists will be watching for signs that more people are joining the workforce, potentially easing wage pressures.

April 29: Fast Price and Wage Growth Keeps Fed on Track for Big Interest Rate Increase

The Personal Consumption Expenditures price index climbed 6.6 percent from a year earlier, the quickest pace of increase since 1982 and the latest reminder of the painfully rapid price increases plaguing consumers and challenging policymakers.

Much of the gain in the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, released Friday, was driven by a pop in energy prices that came early in Russia's invasion of Ukraine along with rising food costs.

White House officials have been emphasizing the role that the war is playing in elevating inflation, often blaming President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia for higher prices. While Russia's invasion did push gas prices sharply higher last month, inflation had been high for months before the conflict.

Consumers continued to shop at a brisk pace in March: Friday's report showed that personal spending climbed 1.1 percent before accounting for inflation and 0.2 percent after adjusting for price increases. Fast price increases spell trouble, but moderate price gains can lead to higher wages and job growth.

April 29: Why the U.S. economy shrank

Change in GDP. The U.S. economy shrank at an annualized rate of 1.4 percent in the first three months of the year, the first such decline going back to the pandemic closures of 2020. The stark reversal, following more than a year of rapid growth, has policymakers, economists, businesses, and families trying to make sense of how the economy is doing and what the latest GDP report tells us about where we go from here.

To recap, the U.S. economy abruptly shrank at the beginning of the pandemic, then boomeranged in 2021. Last year, the economy grew by 5.7 percent, the fastest full-year clip since 1984. Economists didn't expect the economy would keep that same momentum this year, as federal stimulus programs wore off and the Federal Reserve moved to raise interest rates to slow growth and get a handle on soaring prices. The job market has shown tremendous strength since 20 million jobs fell out of the economy two years ago.

April 29: U.S. Consumers Boosted Spending in March

Consumers spent more in March, showing American households are absorbing high inflation and are positioned to propel the economy heading into the spring and summer. Adjusting for inflation, consumer spending rose 0.2% last month, driven by higher services spending. Consumers stepped up spending on services like travel and dining, as well as on goods like gasoline and food. Spending on durable goods declined for the second month in a row, led by lower spending on vehicles.

Personal income, a measure that includes wages and government assistance, climbed 0.5% from the prior month. That was a slower rise than overall inflation, which increased 0.9% in March, according to the Commerce Department. Some Americans tapped their savings to offset cost increases. The savings rate fell to 6.2% in March, the lowest in nine years.

Kathy Bostjancic, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics said she expects the pickup in consumer spending to be sustainable, "But there are obviously large headwinds facing the consumer right now," like inflation and supply-chain disruptions as a result of lockdowns in China.

The consumer spending figures come amid mixed signals from the broader economy. The unemployment rate was a low 3.6% in March and workers’ wages grew, but U.S. gross domestic product contracted at a 1.4% annual rate in the first quarter of 2022.

Many U.S. consumers are rethinking their spending habits amid continued high inflation.

April 29: Inflation Rises to Four-Decade High, According to the Fed’s Preferred Measure

Inflation accelerated in March to its fastest pace since 1982, measured by the Federal Reserve's preferred gauge, as the Ukraine war pushed up energy prices and supply problems and strong U.S. consumer demand persisted.

Consumer prices rose 6.6% in March from a year before, up from February's revised 6.3% increase, as measured by the Commerce Department's personal consumption expenditures price index, which it reported Friday.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said at his news conference on March 16 that central bank officials were closely watching monthly changes in inflation for signs of whether price pressures have ebbed recently.

The central bank, which seeks average inflation of 2%, began raising interest rates in March to cool the economy and has signaled more increases are on the way.

Friday’s numbers are unlikely to alter those plans, said Veronica Clark, an economist at Citigroup. "With core PCE inflation rising at around a 5% pace for each of the last four quarters, we would not expect a change in the near-term outlook for Fed policy," she said.

Another widely followed inflation gauge, the Labor Department's consumer-price index, rose 8.5% in March from a year earlier, a four-decade high.

The monthly figures hint that core inflation could be on track to come down markedly by midsummer, said Omair Sharif, founder of Inflation Insights LLC. "The bigger story is that if we can maintain the slower pace through the second quarter, then we'll see a big drop in the annual rate from around 5.3% in March to around 4.2% or 4.3% by June," he said.

April 28: Latest GDP numbers bungle Biden’s messaging on the economy

Federal data released Thursday showed the U.S. economy contracted for the first time since 2020 during the first three months of the year despite many other measures of economic activity remaining strong.

"The headline GDP figure is not a good representation of what's going on under the hood," said Andrew Hunter, senior economist at research firm Capital Economics, in a Thursday interview.

High inflation, supply chain issues, and labor shortages had already taken a serious toll on Biden's approval ratings before the GDP report, even after the U.S. economy added a record 6.4 million jobs and grew 5.7 percent during his first year in office.

"Accelerating inflation, a worker crisis, and the growing risk of a significant recession is the signature economic failures of the Biden Administration - and will likely get worse," said Rep. Kevin Brady, ranking member on the House Ways and Means Committee, in a Thursday statement.

While negative GDP growth is often a sign of a brewing recession, overall economic activity still held up well at the start of the year.

"Beneath the weak headline print, the details of the report point to an economy with a solid underlying strength and that demonstrated resilience in the face of Omicron, lingering supply constraints, and high inflation," wrote Lydia Boussour of Oxford Economics on a Thursday analysis.

Biden sought to highlight the strong points of the GDP report along with other signs of steady economic recovery under his watch.

April 28: To cut gas costs, Democrats to focus on oil company ‘price gouging’

Democratic leaders in both chambers on Thursday aimed at the nation's largest oil companies, accusing the industry of adopting "Price gouging" tactics that have led directly to the spike in gas prices around the country.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer vowed to move swiftly in the coming weeks to vote on legislation empowering the government, at both the state and federal level, to put new curbs on the industry for the purpose of reducing costs at the pump.

Since oil companies are reporting enormous profits, the Democrats argue, they can easily afford to pass the gains on to consumers instead of shareholders - particularly amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which has only exacerbated the volatility of global fuel markets.

Democratic leaders have rejected tax holiday, warning that there's no way to guarantee the oil companies would pass that savings along to drivers.

Schumer suggested that leadership's strategy to focus on the oil companies was poll-tested.

"If you ask the American people, in all the survey data, what is causing the increase in gas prices, number one is market manipulation and Big Oil not giving a break," he said.

The idea of adopting tougher, new regulations on the oil industry is almost certain to meet fierce opposition from Republicans in both chambers, raising immediate doubts about whether Cantwell's bill can win the 60 votes needed to defeat a GOP filibuster in the Senate.

April 28: GDP may have shrunk in the first quarter, but not because the U.S. economy was bad

The U.S. economy likely laid an egg in the first quarter, based on the official scorecard for growth known as gross domestic product. Here's what to watch in Thursday's GDP report for the first three months of 2022.

The U.S. economy slowed to an annual 1% rate of growth in the first quarter from a sizzling 6.9% at the end of 2021, analysts polled by The Wall Street Journal estimate.

The twin pillars that hold up the economy - consumer spending and business investment - were probably pretty strong in the first quarter.

Inflation-adjusted spending likely rose almost 3% in the first quarter, well above the 2.3% average in the 10 years before the pandemic.

IHS estimates the record trade gap will subtract a whopping 3.5 points from GDP in the first quarter, helping to turn it negative.

In the first quarter reduced stockpiling is expected to subtract slightly from GDP. The end of massive federal stimulus spending put in place during the pandemic is likely to depress GDP for the third time in the past four quarters also.

April 26: Stocks sink as inflation, recession fears rattle Wall Street

Stocks fell Tuesday as a steep decline in technology stocks deepened Wall Street's losses after a brutal start to 2022. Following a year of stellar gains, all three indexes have fallen since the start of the year as investors brace for the continued war in Ukraine, high inflation, and the Federal Reserve's attempts to cool off-price growth to cut into corporate profits. Tech stocks that made up much of the market's massive gains last year are among the leading forces behind the steady decline across Wall Street.

"The Fed is raising rates to get inflation under control. This is painful in the short term, but necessary to lay the foundation for future growth. As always, we just need to ride out the short-term pain to benefit from that future growth," wrote Brad McMillan, chief investment officer for Commonwealth Financial Network, in a Monday research note.

Some economists and investment experts have become increasingly worried about the U.S. economy falling into a recession this or next year as the Fed fights inflation amid several global obstacles.

Other experts believe recession fears are overhyped given the strength of the U.S. economy and the likelihood that inflation has peaked in the U.S. The U.S. added 1.7 million jobs over the first three months of 2022, and consumer spending has been resilient in the face of high price growth, thanks in part to rapid wage growth in low-income fields.

"Despite these risks, the metrics above suggest that the economy could escape a recession in the near term, with potential for nearly 3% growth this year," wrote Jeffrey Roach and Lawrence Gillum of investment firm LPL Financial, in a Monday research note.

Global Trade:

April 29: China’s Manufacturing Activity Pummeled by Covid Restrictions

Readings of Chinese factory and service-sector activity worsened dramatically in April, falling to their lowest levels since the early days of the Covid-19 outbreak, as recent lockdowns in dozens of cities across the country shut factories and pummeled consumer spending.

China's National Bureau of Statistics said Saturday that its official manufacturing purchasing managers index dropped to 47.4 in April, from 49.5 in March, falling to its lowest level since February 2020.

Factory output had already weakened in March as restrictions thinned workforces and gummed up supply chains.

The recovery from the current wave of outbreaks will likely be slower and more muted than the roaring rebound from the initial Covid outbreak in early 2020, said Julian Evans-Pritchard, senior China economist at Capital Economics.

The sub-index measuring service activity tumbled to 40.0 in April, from 46.7 in March, while the sub-index tracking construction activity dropped to 52.7 from 58.1 in March.

The Caixin China purchasing managers index, which is tilted more toward smaller companies, slipped to 46.0 in April from March's 48.1. Corrections & Amplifications China's official manufacturing purchasing managers index dropped to 47.4 in April, it's the lowest reading since February 2020.

Ukraine Crisis/Russia’s Economic Impact: 

April 30: Russia’s War in Ukraine Is Straining Global Economic Cooperation

A rift between Western democracies and Russia and China is forcing policymakers to figure out how to keep conversations alive among nations with diverse views as they face economic challenges arising from the war in Ukraine.

Indonesia's announcement Friday that it has invited the leaders of Russia and Ukraine to a November meeting of the Group of 20 economic powers underscored the complex task facing the U.S. and its Western allies. The G-20, a group that includes Russia, China, and influential emerging-market nations, as well as Western powers, has served as a venue for discussing global economic issues.

Finance ministers and central bankers from around the world who gathered for meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Washington in April experienced firsthand the challenges in a world torn by the Ukraine war and stressed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who chaired the G-20 meeting in April, said in an interview that the walkout was a carefully orchestrated mechanism that allowed Russia to attend the meeting while allowing the U.S. and others to demonstrate their disapproval.

The survival of the G-20, which gained a prominent role during the 2008-09 financial crisis to give a diverse range of countries a voice in global economic policy discussions, is important for countries such as hers, Ms. Mulyani said. "As soon as the Russian minister finished speaking, they came right back and the business continued," Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, director-general of the World Trade Organization, who attended the April meeting and is now preparing for a ministerial meeting of her group in June, told reporters Tuesday.

April 30: Governments Tighten Grip on Global Food Stocks, Sending Prices Higher

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has unleashed a new wave of protectionism as governments, desperate to secure food and other commodities for their citizens amid shortages and rising prices, erect new barriers to stop exports at their borders. Export restrictions are making grains, oils, meat, and fertilizer - already at record prices - more expensive and even harder to come by. That is placing an even greater burden on the world’s poor, who are paying an ever-larger share of their income for food, increasing the risk of social unrest in poorer countries struggling with food insecurity.

The cascade of new trade barriers comes as the war in Ukraine, and the sanctions imposed by the West on Russia, are further straining supply chains that were already in disarray from the pandemic. Russia is the world’s largest exporter of wheat, pig iron, nickel, and natural gas, and a major supplier of coal, crude oil, and fertilizer. Ukraine is the world's largest exporter of sunflower seed oil and a significant exporter of wheat, pig iron, maize, and barley.

The W.T.O. has argued against export bans since the early days of the pandemic when countries including the United States began throwing up restrictions on exporting masks and medical goods and removed them only gradually.

Indonesia's restrictions on palm oil, a key ingredient in packaged foods, detergents, and cosmetics, are in line with similar bans the country placed on exporting the product before the war in an attempt to keep the price of oil affordable for Indonesian households.

The price of palladium, used in automotive exhaust systems and mobile phones, has been soaring amid fears that Russia, the world's largest exporter of metal, could be cut off from global markets. Dr. Okonjo-Iweala said she was urging the trade group's members to refrain from restricting exports and to share any buffer stocks of food, to try to keep prices from soaring.

April 27: US oil production grows, but Russia’s war keeps gas prices high

U.S. oil production is on the rise - but it may not have the immediate impact on gas prices that both Democrats and Republicans want. While the country is producing 300,000 more barrels of oil per day than it was in mid-March, Russia's invasion of Ukraine - which sparked a boycott of Russian oil and increased demand for limited supply from elsewhere - is expected to keep prices high at least for the near future.

Skyrocketing prices at the pump have been a political headache for the Biden administration, with the president repeatedly labeling the high prices "Putin's price hike" while also blaming oil producers. U.S. production of oil was at 11.9 million barrels per day as of April 15, still somewhat lower than pre-pandemic levels.

A March survey of oil and gas executives from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas found large firms predicting their production would grow by a median of 6 percent between December 2021 and December 2022. Trey Cowan, an oil and gas industry analyst at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, described companies' spending on production as "Pretty modest compared to how they've reacted in the past whenever oil prices spiked like this." He said production may be stunted because companies during the pandemic produced a lot of oil from wells that were already drilled and are now having to put effort into drilling new wells before they can extract oil from them.

April 27: Russia’s retaliation on gas raises stakes for the U.S

Russia is taking a retaliatory step the U.S. and its allies have been bracing for - cutting off gas exports to two European nations, a move that escalated tensions and raised concerns about the possibility of Russia widening the stoppage to other nations. The Biden administration has long warned that Russia would weaponize its energy exports but sought to work in lockstep with European allies on their own timelines to reduce reliance on Russian gas and oil.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday that neighboring countries were supplying Poland and Bulgaria with gas delivery amid the Russian blockade and warned energy companies against violating European and U.S. sanctions by paying for gas imports in rubles.

Ziemba said the development would likely spur an increase in natural gas prices, including in the U.S., which is increasing liquified natural gas exports to Europe to help wean European nations off of Russian gas.

Psaki told reporters that the U.S. has been in touch with Bulgarian and Polish officials since Russia shut off gas supplies to their two countries.

Blinken on Wednesday, speaking to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee before Russia announced it was cutting off gas supplies, said the U.S. had already redirected "Significant amounts" of LNG to Europe to help it move away from Russian gas amid the war in Ukraine.

Approximately 9,000 domestic oil and gas leases are currently unused, and the Biden administration has frequently referenced them to fault the energy industry for high gas prices.

Environmental Policy:

May 2: Biden administration announces $3B to support EV battery manufacturing

The Department of Energy on Monday announced a $3.16 billion grant program to aid domestic manufacturing of electric vehicle batteries. Research from the Federal Consortium for Advanced Batteries indicates the lithium battery market will grow by a factor of 5 to 10 within the next 10 years.

"Positioning the United States front and center in meeting the growing demand for advanced batteries is how we boost our competitiveness and electrify our transportation system," Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in a statement.

"President Biden's historic investment in battery production and recycling will give our domestic supply chain the jolt it needs to become more secure and less reliant on other nations - strengthening our clean energy economy, creating good-paying jobs, and decarbonizing the transportation sector," she said.

The announcement comes the month after President Biden invoked the Defense Production Act to step up mining of rare earth metals used in the production of batteries, and Brian Deese, director of the White House Economic Council, described that action as "Complementary support" to the grant program on a press call Monday. The Biden administration has made a broader push for a wider proliferation of electric vehicles and EV infrastructure as gas prices increase and the administration seeks to halve carbon emissions by the end of the decade.

"With today's announcement, over $3 billion, we will ensure that the United States is not just the world leader in making batteries, but in innovating the advanced battery technologies that we need in the future and securing the supply chain so we can be less vulnerable to global supply disruptions and making this industry sustainable by recycling materials and using cleaner manufacturing processes," White House climate adviser Gina McCarthy said on the call.

ICYMI: 

May 1: Coronavirus Mutations Aren't Slowing Down

Mutations make the virus less familiar to the immune system's front-line defense. 

Garry, the Tulane scientist, points out that mutations in the virus do not change its appearance dramatically. Garry has a software program that allows him to create a graphic image of the virus, and even rotate it, to observe the locations of mutations and draw inferences about why they matter.

The S is one type of amino acid seen in the original strain of the virus, and the L is what is there after the mutation.

No one is sure of the origin of omicron, but many disease experts assume it came from an immunocompromised patient with a very lengthy illness, and the virus continued to use mutations to evade the immune system's efforts to clear it.

A century ago, no one knew what a coronavirus was, and even a "Virus" was a relatively new concept.

Erica Saphire, president of the La Jolla Institute for Immunology, speculates that omicron has mutations that have changed the virus in ways not yet understood but which make it more resistant to antibody-mediated neutralization.

April 27: Elon Musk’s Boring Company to start full-scale Hyperloop test this year

Musk in a 2013 white paper explained the theoretical Hyperloop concept as a transportation system capable of moving passengers in electric pods at high speeds. "Hyperloop testing at full-scale begins later this year," the Boring Company announced in a tweet this week. Elon Musk's underground tunnel startup founded to "Revolutionize transportation" claims it plans to kick off testing of a Hyperloop system later this year.

Musk in a 2013 white paper explained the theoretical Hyperloop concept as a transportation system capable of moving passengers in electric pods at speeds of more than 600 mph. The Boring Company says a Hyperloop trip from Washington, D.C., to New York City would take less than 30 minutes, while a trip from D.C. to Baltimore would take under 8 minutes.

"In the coming years, Boring Co will attempt to build a working Hyperloop," Musk tweeted this week.

The company said it planned to focus on moving cargo via a Hyperloop instead. The Boring Company has so far constructed two operational tunnels, one underneath the Las Vegas Convention Center and another test tunnel in Hawthorne, Calif. The 1.7-mile tunnel in Las Vegas is used to taxi visitors underground to three stations in Teslas at typical driving speeds.

For Fun: 

April 30: Rare Black Moon Solar Eclipse Takes Bite Out Of Sun Over South America

The partial solar eclipse of April 30, one of two happening in 2022, swept over parts of South America, Antarctica, and the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between Earth and the sun.

The maximum eclipse occurred at 4:41 p.m. EDT today when the moon blocked about 64% of the sun's disk for viewers just south of the southern tip of South America.

Today's eclipse took place over largely unpopulated regions in the southeastern Pacific Ocean and the Antarctic, as well as over some South American countries, including Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia, and Peru. Today's eclipse also happened to coincide with the second new moon of the month, known as a Black Moon.

The next partial solar eclipse will take place on Oct. 25, when the moon will block a portion of the sun for viewers in Europe, western Asia, and northeast Africa.