The Postal Service has raised rates again. But it’s
the first time in four years, and just a measly two cents. That’s barely
a five percent increase. Who could possibly be upset about that? Nobody.
Nobody, that is, except for direct mailers, small
businesses, consumers, and anybody who doesn’t work for the Post Office.
This rate increase was necessary because Congress requires the USPS to keep a bunch of money in escrow So you might be tempted to blame Congress. Resist the temptation.
The real culprits are 18th century laws called
the Private Express Statutes. They make it a crime to compete with the
Postal Service.
Don’t believe me? Try this experiment: Tell your
kid to go make some money by delivering letters around the neighborhood on his
bike. Watch what happens when the USPS gets word of your budding entrepreneur
and finds out they aren’t getting their cut. It won’t be pretty.
[Disclaimer: Don’t really do this. You’d be inducing your
child to commit a felony. I kid you not.]
We all know monopolies are inefficient, anti-consumer, and anti-freedom.
That is, unless they were created by Congress. In that case, a miracle
happens. The laws of economics are repealed, and monopolies make us all
better off. I know, it doesn’t make sense to me either.
The USPS always drags out the same boring arguments against
repeal of its monopoly privilege. Just so I can save everyone from having
to read a lot of canned letters to the editor, here they are:
1) “The USPS is hamstrung by government regulations.
It’s not fair to compare us with private business, because we have to do all
sorts of things other companies don’t.”
I’m all for a level playing field. I just don’t want
to cut the players’ legs off. How about this: Let’s even things out
by getting rid of the regulations you’re complaining about, in exchange for
taking away your right to throw competitors in jail.
Whenever you propose that idea to monopolists complaining
about regulation, it always meets with a stunned silence. It’s a deal
regulated monopolies couldn’t possibly accept. Take away the privileged
environment they’ve grown up with, and they won’t last two seconds.
2) “The delivery of mail is a natural monopoly.”
Believe it or not, USPS talking heads can actually say this
with a straight face. Have these people heard of email?
Faxes? FedEx and UPS? These companies were only grudgingly
permitted to come into being by the Postal Service, and then only to enter what
they believed were dead-end markets: “extremely urgent” letters and
package delivery. Thanks to the genius of entrepreneurs in the private
sector, those markets are now multibillion dollar industries.
3) “Universal service justifies our monopoly. Without
it, there’s no guarantee everyone would get mail.”
Universal service is the pride and joy of the USPS.
When they say “universal service”, they mean the delivery of mail to any
address anywhere in the
What exactly is good about making people who choose to live
in cities subsidize people who choose to live in the country? Does anyone
really believe that delivering a package next door for the same price as
delivering it to
I don’t blame the USPS for making any of these
arguments. They’re just using politics to enrich themselves at the
expense of others. Sadly, that’s what everybody does now. It’s like
breathing. Nobody thinks about it any more.
But none of that changes the truth. We have a postal
monopoly because of a law passed when George Washington was president. We
still have one because those who live in the town that bears his name have no
interest in breaking it up.
If
You tell ‘em, big guy. Signed, sealed and delivered.