The advance of automation has accelerated the development of machines capable of performing repetitive and physically-demanding tasks, transforming processes that once took hours into actions that are now completed in minutes. For example, the robotic arm developed by Pickle Robot Company was specifically designed to handle packages in logistics environments. Its main function is to load and unload boxes from trucks with precision, a task that demands significant physical effort and poses risks to workers.

Last Thursday, the New START Treaty—the last remaining nuclear treaty between the United States and Russian governments—officially expired. Now, for the first time in 54 years, there are no formally agreed-upon limits on each side’s nuclear arsenals.

The Russians offered to agree to a one-year extension of the treaty as both sides worked out a new agreement, but the Americans turned it down.

In a revealing exchange at the Religious Liberty Commission’s hearing on Anti-Semitism and Freedom of Religion, commission member Carrie Prejean Boller sought a clear answer to the question “is anti-Zionism anti-Semitism?” 

For student members of the Mises Institute:

Please join us on Wednesday, February 11, from 4–5 p.m. central time, for our first “Ask An Austrian Anything.”

National states thrive on political centralization, so supporters of central governments are always looking for new ways to consolidate power over regional and local governments. In the United States, this takes the form of relentless federal efforts to assert control over state policy and to increase the presence of federal agencies in the lives of ordinary people.

There have been two very serious train accidents in Spain in the past few days with a significant loss of life. I do not wish to discuss these specific events at this time as it is a time of mourning. The aim of this article instead is to discuss, from an Austrian economic perspective, the argument that is being presented within the context of these accidents.