The Cato Institute’s Edward Hudgins wrote an interesting article looking at the Post Office’s financial problems. One of the more amusing part of the piece is this: the Post Office is so inefficient in its operations that it contracts out overnight delivery to a private competitor.
In the long run people will find ways to avoid using the USPS. An exception to its monopoly allows private companies to carry emergency mail for next day delivery, though at government-mandated high prices. The result: 90 percent of overnight mail goes by private carrier. Now the USPS is contracting out to Federal Express to carry USPS express mail. Further, more people will be paying bills electronically over the next decade, reducing USPS revenues by some $15 billion.
Source:
Postal Ploy: “Give Us Your Money or Don’t Get Your Mail!” by Edward Hudgins (Cato Institute)