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Automation

minis6_credt_Thomas Hawk_CC | Photo: Thomas Hawk

Innovation

Review: Detroit's Ford Rouge Factory Reveals Just How Far American Industry Has Come

The factory has changed a lot, from making Model T parts to making Mustangs to assembling electric Ford F-150s.

Jason Russell | 8.22.2025 6:00 AM

John Stossel is seen in front of a port | Stossel TV

Labor Unions

Union Workers Are Fighting To Keep U.S. Ports More Dangerous and Less Efficient

Union president Harold Daggett says longshoremen will strike again in January if they don't get a ban on automation.

John Stossel | 12.4.2024 12:30 AM

Container ship at port | Photo by Dominik Lückmann on Unsplash

Free Trade

Automate the Ports

The dockworkers' strike is over, but America's ports will be some of the least efficient in the world whether they are open or closed.

Eric Boehm | 10.4.2024 9:50 AM

John Stossel is seen next to a picture of California and  | Stossel TV

Minimum Wage

California's $20 Fast Food Minimum Wage Law Is Already Having Disastrous Unintended Consequences

Many have seen their hours reduced—or have lost their jobs entirely.

John Stossel | 5.29.2024 12:30 AM

A man works in manufacturing at a factory | Photo 161332327 © Omar Osman | Dreamstime.com

Economy

Politicians Are Showering Manufacturing Companies With Crony Subsidies for 'Job Creation.' It Won't Work.

These handouts will flow to businesses—often big and rich—for projects they would likely have taken on anyway.

Veronique de Rugy | 4.4.2024 12:01 AM

Aerial footage shows the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio | CHINE NOUVELLE/SIPA/Newscom

Rail

The Rail Safety Act Is About Union Handouts, Not Safety

The legislation—which was introduced in response to the derailment in East Palestine, Ohio—pushes pet projects and would worsen the status quo.

Veronique de Rugy | 6.15.2023 12:01 AM

hollywood | Illustration: Lex Villena

Labor

Hollywood Strike: Writers Demand More Pay, New Limits on ChatGPT

Their last strike previewed the struggles of the streaming era. This one might be giving us an early taste of the age of artificial intelligence.

Liz Wolfe | 5.3.2023 10:05 AM

minismcdonalds | McDonalds

Food

Review: I Saw Humans Working at the 'Automated' McDonald's

McDonald's invested in some spiffy new toys, but almost everything else stayed the same.

Billy Binion | 3.10.2023 6:30 AM

Migrants wait in line at the U.S.-Mexico border | Carlos A. Moreno/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom

Immigration

The Answer to Population Decline Is More Immigration

Politicians' go-to fixes like child tax credits and federal paid leave are known for creating disincentives to work without much impact on fertility.

Veronique de Rugy | 2.23.2023 12:01 AM

George Hotz with robots | Illustration: Lex Villena; Ojogabonitoo | Dreamstime.com, Steve Jennings/Tech Crunch

Self-driving vehicles

George Hotz: From Self-Driving Cars to Robots That Cook and Clean

The visionary hacker on how he plans to "solve A.I." and why he thinks this will be a "decade of decentralization."

Justin Monticello | 8.23.2021 9:45 AM

sipaphotosnine769794 | Jason Bergman/Sipa USA/Newscom

Robots

Bill de Blasio's Proposed 'Robot Tax' Is Completely Unnecessary, Just Like His Candidacy

Forcing future Americans to do manual labor that could be automated isn't "saving" them from job losses. It's trapping them in jobs that could be made more efficient, more productive, and more rewarding. 

Eric Boehm | 9.9.2019 2:30 PM

reason-selfcheckout | Joshua Rainey/Dreamstime.com

Oregon

Union-Backed Ballot Initiative Would Limit Grocery Stores to 2 Self-Checkout Machines

The Oregon AFL-CIO argues that self-checkout machines are costing jobs and increasing social isolation.

Christian Britschgi | 9.6.2019 1:25 PM

Andrew-Yang | JOSHUA ROBERTS/REUTERS/Newscom

Basic Income

Andrew Yang: The Capitalist Candidate Championing a Universal Basic Income

The 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful is running on a "Freedom Dividend" plan which promises a $1,000 per month UBI.

Billy Binion | 4.19.2019 4:50 PM

Large image on homepages

Law & Government

Meet the Robot Lawyer Fighting Fines, Fees, and Red Tape

DoNotPay is launching a "denial of service attack on the legal system to make it better."

Justin Monticello | 9.20.2018 1:14 PM

Large image on homepages | Aaron Josefczyk/REUTERS/Newscom

Self-driving vehicles

Uber Fires 100 Self-Driving Car Operators After Fatal Crash

After a fatality involving one of its autonomous cars, Uber is replacing 100 of its monitors with 55 technical specialists to improve feedback.

Nikhil Sridhar | 7.13.2018 5:45 PM

Large image on homepages | Yorkberlin/Dreamstime

Robots

Autonomous Warbots Could Be More Moral Than Human Soldiers

A preemptive ban risks being a tragic moral failure rather than an ethical triumph.

Ronald Bailey | 11.10.2017 2:40 PM

Large image on homepages

Reasontv

Minimum Wage: Bad for Humans, Good for Robots

Outlawing cheap labor comes with a lot of disastrous consequences.

Andrew Heaton and Sarah Siskind | 9.7.2017 2:30 PM

Large image on homepages

Robots

Good News: Robots Will Steal Only 9 Percent of Jobs, Not 38 Percent Says New Study

Whether automation produces net job losses depends on the relative sizes of its job-creation and job-destruction effects.

Ronald Bailey | 9.5.2017 4:35 PM

Large image on homepages | Knightscope

Future

Armless Droid Calls Cops After Being Assaulted by Drunken Man

The future of human-robot relations is silly and sensible, not sinister.

Katherine Mangu-Ward | 6.10.2017 6:00 AM

Large image for longform feature pages.

Robots

Are Robots Going to Steal Our Jobs?

Many technologists think so, but economists aren't so easily convinced.

Ronald Bailey | 6.6.2017 6:00 AM

Large image for longform feature pages. | Joanna Andreasson

Basic Income

The Indestructible Idea of the Basic Income

Is this the only policy proposal Tom Paine, Huey Long, Milton Friedman, Timothy Leary, and Sam Altman can agree on?

Jesse Walker | 6.3.2017 12:00 AM

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