Looks like more of the inevitable is happening at the post office. When will we understand that this government enforced monopoly is pointless and wasteful? If we opened first class mail up to competition, FedEx and UPS would almost certainly thoroughly and quickly replace the post office, probably reducing the price and certainly preventing the steady stream of price hikes created by the current enforced monopoly.
The silliest part of it all is the notion that the Forever Stamps, which allow people to buy stamps that can be used any time, even after a price increase, will do any good. These stamps have no effect on the problem. The problem is not that the American people are paying too much. The problem is that we don't have a true price system, so we have no clue what "too much" is. The post office, like every enforced monopoly is constantly aware that they can simply raise prices to cover costs, and never have to worry about competition. Even a monopoly in a market is less problematic that this, for a monopoly arising under normal conditions always has to consider the possibility of emerging competition. A government enforced monopoly is the most parasitic possible business arrangement and will almost inevitably lead to inefficient production that creates a steady increase in prices.
Furthermore, the arguments behind the monopoly are simply outdated. There was a time when it made some sense to say that if the government doesn't send mail certain places, and make sure the price is low, then mail will simply never get there. Whether this factual claim justified the normative claim that the USPS should exist (of course it did not) is now irrelevant, because the factual claim at the root is no longer true. If we eliminate the USPS monopoly we are not likely to see a failure to deliver mail to large parts of the rural US. I imagine UPS, FedEx, and others would have to compete among themselves for public image, and thus would avoid significant rate differences to rural areas. The USPS is simply outdated and overpriced and needs to go. Step one is opening it up to competition. When it flounders before its superior competitors whose production costs and prices are driven down by the profit motive the USPS lacks, the next step, the total elimination of the USPS, will be obvious.
The silliest part of it all is the notion that the Forever Stamps, which allow people to buy stamps that can be used any time, even after a price increase, will do any good. These stamps have no effect on the problem. The problem is not that the American people are paying too much. The problem is that we don't have a true price system, so we have no clue what "too much" is. The post office, like every enforced monopoly is constantly aware that they can simply raise prices to cover costs, and never have to worry about competition. Even a monopoly in a market is less problematic that this, for a monopoly arising under normal conditions always has to consider the possibility of emerging competition. A government enforced monopoly is the most parasitic possible business arrangement and will almost inevitably lead to inefficient production that creates a steady increase in prices.
Furthermore, the arguments behind the monopoly are simply outdated. There was a time when it made some sense to say that if the government doesn't send mail certain places, and make sure the price is low, then mail will simply never get there. Whether this factual claim justified the normative claim that the USPS should exist (of course it did not) is now irrelevant, because the factual claim at the root is no longer true. If we eliminate the USPS monopoly we are not likely to see a failure to deliver mail to large parts of the rural US. I imagine UPS, FedEx, and others would have to compete among themselves for public image, and thus would avoid significant rate differences to rural areas. The USPS is simply outdated and overpriced and needs to go. Step one is opening it up to competition. When it flounders before its superior competitors whose production costs and prices are driven down by the profit motive the USPS lacks, the next step, the total elimination of the USPS, will be obvious.
