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I think we can conclude advances in transportation technology made it cheaper to deliver the mail. Trains, trucks, planes.
by quickthrowman 7y ago
I think we can conclude advances in transportation technology made it cheaper to deliver the mail. Trains, trucks, planes.
- anonu 7y agoSure - thats certainly one reason. But why would a near monopolistic business (USPS) cut their prices?
- macintux 7y agoPrices have always been regulated by the U.S. government; in the mid-1800s the price of postage was flattened to be independent of distance, which I infer addressed most of the complaints that led to the creation of the American Letter Mail Company. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_United_States_postage_rates https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_United_States_posta... Added: this PDF goes into gory details on the turmoil in the 1840s: http://mars.gmu.edu/bitstream/handle/1920/3477/Appendix%20C.pdf http://mars.gmu.edu/bitstream/handle/1920/3477/Appendix%20C....
- mattmaroon 7y agoBecause they aren’t a business and most years they don’t turn a profit. They were effectively government subsidized for most of their existence.
- selectodude 7y agoIt's getting ever cheaper to deliver mail from Boston to New York, but it's getting more and more expensive to deliver mail to remote exurbs that the USPS is constitutionally mandated to serve. So the cross-subsidy of routes grows.