From Thinking Outside the Boxe’s London Correspondent

The U.S. Postal Service is in trouble. The USPS ended 2010 with an $8.5 billion loss, and it is predicted to lose another $10 billion by the end of 2011. According to the Newspaper Association of America, the volume of mail carried by USPS has declined by 36 billion pieces, or 17%, in 3 years, but its set delivery schedules mean that operating costs have not declined to match this lower demand. Many argue that the only way to stop the postal service from bleeding money and to make it a profitable venture once more is to allow it to privatize. Many other countries have privatized their postal services in recent years, including Germany in 2000 and Japan in 2005. However, the United States has many unique problems, particularly in terms of size, that do not apply to other nations with privatized postal services. Although a private system might make mail delivery profitable again, it will result in sub-standard service and may even leave many Americans virtually cut off from postal services. Continue reading →