Stamp Prices Rise Again (But Are Still Too Low)
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The U.S. Postal Service has announced that the price of mailing a first-class letter will rise two cents, to $0.39, effective January 8.
The Postal Service is often invoked as a sort of poster boy (whipping boy?) for many libertarians as an "unnatural monopoly," an "inefficient bureaucracy," and so on. The Big-L Libertarian candidate for president in 2004, Michael Badnarik, pointed to his refusal to use ZIP Codes as proof of his bona fides as a sufficiently unstable nutjob to run as a Big-L Libertarian.
Whatever. My problem with the Postal Service isn't the way it delivers the mail, but the way it does everything else.
In an effort to increase revenues (i.e., to subsidize the cost of stamps), the USPS has ventured into other businesses that it has no business whatsoever providing. This unfair competition serves as an indirect tax on the legitimate private businesses that are trying to compete with the Postal Service.
For example, the Postal Service sells phone cards. Um, why? What does delivering the mail have to do with long-distance telephone calls? And how is that fair to actual telecommunications companies that must compete with the Postal Service?
The Postal Service also sells money orders -- where in the Constitution does it mention a "postal bank"?
Boxes, shipping supplies, greeting cards, holiday ornaments, toys, clothing, coffee mugs. All of which are outside the Postal Service's raison d’être, all of which place it in competition with private businesses and all of which disrupt what should be free markets in this merchandise. (Conversely, sometimes these activities place the Postal Service in collusion with private companies -- guess who runs the Postal Service's online store? This is also a form of unfair competition: competing with the Postal Service's allies is not much different from competing with the Postal Service directly.)
All to keep the cost of mail (including junk mail) artificially low.
The Postal Service should stick to its knitting and charge whatever it truly costs to mail a letter, leaving the bells and whistles to private bell-and-whistle companies.
The Postal Service is often invoked as a sort of poster boy (whipping boy?) for many libertarians as an "unnatural monopoly," an "inefficient bureaucracy," and so on. The Big-L Libertarian candidate for president in 2004, Michael Badnarik, pointed to his refusal to use ZIP Codes as proof of his bona fides as a sufficiently unstable nutjob to run as a Big-L Libertarian.
Whatever. My problem with the Postal Service isn't the way it delivers the mail, but the way it does everything else.
In an effort to increase revenues (i.e., to subsidize the cost of stamps), the USPS has ventured into other businesses that it has no business whatsoever providing. This unfair competition serves as an indirect tax on the legitimate private businesses that are trying to compete with the Postal Service.
For example, the Postal Service sells phone cards. Um, why? What does delivering the mail have to do with long-distance telephone calls? And how is that fair to actual telecommunications companies that must compete with the Postal Service?
The Postal Service also sells money orders -- where in the Constitution does it mention a "postal bank"?
Boxes, shipping supplies, greeting cards, holiday ornaments, toys, clothing, coffee mugs. All of which are outside the Postal Service's raison d’être, all of which place it in competition with private businesses and all of which disrupt what should be free markets in this merchandise. (Conversely, sometimes these activities place the Postal Service in collusion with private companies -- guess who runs the Postal Service's online store? This is also a form of unfair competition: competing with the Postal Service's allies is not much different from competing with the Postal Service directly.)
All to keep the cost of mail (including junk mail) artificially low.
The Postal Service should stick to its knitting and charge whatever it truly costs to mail a letter, leaving the bells and whistles to private bell-and-whistle companies.
Related Posts (on one page):
- "I've Got the Same Combination on My Luggage!"
- Stamp Prices Rise Again (But Are Still Too Low)
- On Lotteries
Posted by Kip on
15 November 2005
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