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Postmaster General: Mail days may need to be cut
- tptacek 18y agoThere's a really good Jonathan Franzen essay about the Chicago post office in the early '90s (it was notoriously mismanaged). I was surprised by how important the post actually is; most families receive and pay all their bills through it. On the other hand, cutting from 6 to 5 days seems like a reasonable concession to priorities in the 21st century.
- jamiequint 18y agoA few other options: 1. Privatize. What does the government have to lose by doing this? (other than less money). I've dealt with both UPS and USPS when mail I sent through each had deliverability issues, UPS was far more pleasant and easy to deal with. I would far rather deal with a few private mail companies, imagine the type of innovation we might see in a market that has been stagnant for as long as I can remember. 2. Charge to cover costs. Is there a Laffer Curve type effect with postal rates (spam snail mail companies switching to email maybe)? I imagine that in most cases charging more would simply equal more revenue, why not just charge $0.50 a stamp instead of $0.43. Its seems much fairer to do this, instead of having taxpayers subsidize the cost that the actual users of the system generate.
- 4ensic 18y agoThe two options presented have some difficulties: 1. Private companies have no mandate for universal service. They are free to refuse to deliver to any area, or to subcontract delivery out. In fact, SmartMail is a service that relies on private shippers delivering parcels to a destinating Post Office with the Letter Carrier making final last-mile delivery. The private companies wouldn't do that if it wasn't cheaper to use the USPS for final delivery. 2. As far as taxpayers subsidizing the USPS, this has not been the case since 1970 when the agency stopped being the Post Office and became the Postal Service. It's just incorrect.