Save Your Local Post Office

The Post Office spends $56.2B per year. But it earns $64.6B per year. Yet we have been hearing that it is losing money. I assume that some PO funds are funneled to other agencies of government. This is hardly a reason to cut PO branches. The PO is a complex network and willy nilly cuts could be a disaster.

Let me explain by way of a metaphor. Suppose that you have a regional bus system. You observe that some routes at the periphery of that system are not paying for themselves. So you determine to cut the unprofitable routes. Suddenly you discover that having cut those feeder routes that some, more central, routes become unprofitable. Should they be cut in turn? Instead, the network must be considered as a whole. Of course, cuts may be necessary, but the question that should be asked is what will be the impact of the cuts on the entire network.

So here is my proposal: 1. Return revenue to the PO from the general fund or wherever. 2. Let’s hold off on PO cuts until we get really good, network-wide analysis of the cuts.

Although not discussed in this post, we should consider what PO functions can be privatized and what cannot be privatized. For example, do we need a PO monopoly?