Why We Should Privatize the Postal Service 

"If it goes out of business, maybe it was never meant to be." I wish we would allow large companies to fail. Cut the billions of dollars in subsidies to huge ass corporations, please!

That one time the UK was more capitalist than America.

Good ol’ USPS, losing the packages you actually need, but making sure your junk mail is delivered right on time 🤣

*shirtless old man*

Oh hey, this is relevant again!

I work for USPS. You try running your business under congressional oversight and see how well you do.

Before privatisation the Royal Mail kept putting up prices and misdelivered mail. After privatisation the Royal Mail still keeps on putting up prices and misdelivering mail.

The Post Office has been losing so much money because Congress mandated they fully fund pension plans. Some say this mandate was created to force the Post Office to privatize.

I have a post office two miles away but my mail is delivered from the post office 8 miles away. The small town, just south of me, has two post offices. To drive from one to the other takes 2 minutes. A little further south, there is again two post offices in close proximity. Stand at one and you can see the other.

legalize weed delivery through the U.S postal service watch how quick it rebounds.

""In 2006, Congress passed a law that imposed extraordinary costs on the U.S. Postal Service. The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA) required the USPS to create a $72 billion fund to pay for the cost of its post-retirement health care costs, 75 years into the future. This burden applies to no other federal agency or private corporation. If the costs of this retiree health care mandate were removed from the USPS financial statements, the Post Office would have reported operating profits in each of the last six years. This extraordinary mandate created a financial “crisis” that has been used to justify harmful service cuts and even calls for postal privatization. Additional cuts in service and privatization would be devastating for millions of postal workers and customers. In its December 2018 report, President Trump’s Task Force on the United States Postal Service reaffirmed current rules related to postal retiree health benefits, calling it “part of a mandate for postal self-sustainability.” However, the Task Force also recognized that the aggressive and accelerated timetable for funding the mandate has proved unworkable. They call for past deficits to be “restructured with the payments re-amortized with new actuarial calculation based on the population of employees at or near retirement age.” While this would have a modest positive effect by spreading payments over a longer period of time, it does little to address the underlying problem caused by USPS being burdened with a mandate that no other federal agency or private corporation faces. A new Institute for Policy Studies report makes the following recommendations. A Better Path Toward Sustainability... etc etc etc" ips-dc.org/how-congress-manufactured-a-postal-crisis-and-how-to-fix-it/

Where's the Big Money comment?

Hey Reason, what happened in 2006/07 that started causing the USPS to stop making a profit? 🤔

2:18, banks charge me $30 if I'am even 2 or 3 days late on my payments. They justify this because they sent me a "reminder letter".

But whose gonna deliver my monthly issue of Reason?

What about the rural areas the private companies won’t go to cause it’s not profitable?

I miss this show :( Edit: Or whatever, clips. Mini...series? Whatever. lol

It's all that micromanaging and unneeded stipulations thats really killing the PO. I'm convinced they could whip themselves in shape if it wasn't saddled with the amateur lawyers in congress freaking out every time they want to up the price of stamps a half-cent.

UPS/FEDEX/DHL want NO PART of mail delivery - the logistics costs are far too high, and spending the money to upgrade would destroy profits. UPS/FEDEX only comes to your house when they have something to deliver. USPS comes to your house 5-6 days a week, without fail, whether you have something substantial or not. UPS/FEDEX, in case you've noticed, are NOT getting any cheaper to deliver than USPS. This idea is stupid.

Germany tried to privatize their post office and it didn't work to well. Also the public doesn't want post offices to close.

The Dutch postal service is regulated too. They're forced to deliver to every single address and to achieve that, are being subsidized too. I honestly think the only reason for that is that the government wants to make sure their tax letters arrive to every single person in the country.

I like the post office! As a small business owner, it's almost always the fastest and least expensive way to mail small parcels. It's also a friendly and central community hub in many rural areas. Many for-profit delivery services still hand off their parcels to the post office to deliver to rural routes that aren't profitable. Without the post office, many people would be paying much more for delivery to remote areas.

*Lysander Spooner smiles in satisfaction as the postal service disintegrates*

My local post office is only open 9:30 to 2:30. WTF!!?? I can't get there on a weekday without taking time off from work.

Yes it does subsidence Express mail, but if you aren't Amazon the difference between 1-3day and < 5 pounds at $18 vs $87 with UPS is the difference between you having a business or not. Also the loss over the past 10 years has more to do with the inflated pensions than the core operations management cost.

There is SO MUCH wrong with this line of thinking. A private mail service would be more expensive, and would ultimately abandon " unprofitable" routes. Mail delivery should remain a function of government.

You completely skipped that they have to fund every employees full retirement as soon as they are hired. Could mc Donald’s stay in business off they had to fund retirement account every time they hired a new worker? Get Congress out of the way and make them compete. you have the opportunity to give equal access to shipping instead of small businesses buisness subsidizing the losses fedex makes on Amazon packages.

Privatising the post did little to reduce the actual cost here in Denmark, the Swedish private firm took over our postal service too. As with all things Swedish it naturally was shown to be inferior to the Danish system, as it only got worse and cost even more, and they even needed several government bailouts too. And as it is still the only company delivering letters they can still just set the prices. It took me longer to get a letter from a town less than 100 km from here (1-1½ hours drive), than it took to get a package from the US, that had to be sent from China to begin with.

As a part time rural postal carrier who retired from UPS and spent 4 years at FedEx... I approve of this

Or we could just end its monopoly in the first place. Lysander Spooner was kicking their asses in the 1800s and they shut him down "because we have a monopoly on mailing letters."

We are already privatized, we haven't been under Congress's direction since 1974 so we could get raises without going through an act of Congress like the other departments go through. Besides, UPS, FED EX and Amazon all use the USPS as the last leg of the journey, especially to remote areas. Especially with Amazon since, if you ever get a package from Amazon on Sundays it was delivered by a city or rural carrier from the post office. Also, the Royal Mail is having strikes by their workers for bad management. Besides, it's easy to say this if you live in a population center but, if you're in the boondocks then you're out of luck because, it's not profitable to move mail and packages out to them.

The only reason the USPS is in the red each year is because of the ridiculous pension prefunding requirement imposed upon it by congress. The Usps doesn't take taxpayer funds. They operate completely through postage revenue. They do have a monopoly on letter mail though, so that could be considered a subsidy in a sense.

I would prefer to do my bills online so I can the government what they want instantly without having a gun to head

No, the taxpayers absolutely DO NOT pay towards the USPS! We are funded by purchases made by customers. The reason why we are in debt is because we have to pre fund our healthcare 75 years in advance...which is absurd! I assure you, we deliver a lot more than junk mail!

2006 Postal reform law (passed buy Republican congress and signed by W) saddled the Postal service with a more than $5 billion dollar per year requirement, to prefund retiree health benefits for 75 years into the future. No other government or private organisation has a requirement like that. They also tied the price of 1st class postage to the inflation rate (CPI). The inflation rate is figured without including the cost of fuel. The Postal service has more than 200,000 vehicles...... The Postal service delivers mail to communities at the bottom of the Grand Canyon via pack animals. I wonder if UPS or Fedex would do that??? How about remote Alaskan villages where they land on bodies of water to deliver a few items?

You can say this about pretty much every government service ever to have existed ever at any level or form for all of time... government sucks at everything they do

The post office can’t be privatized it’s protected by the constitution.

I can send a letter to anywhere in the US for 45 cents. Just making something private does not make it better.

Let's talk about that deficit... Congress mandated that they FULLY FUND retirement for future employees who aren't even born yet (100 years) ... So yeah... That would bankrupt ANY normal business!

It costs the same to send a letter from any part of the USA. If privatized, it would cost more for rural locations. Plus, ya know, it’s part of the constitution. Annnd it receives 0$ tax dollars and had to prefund pensions for like ?? 75 years. Plus is the largest employer of Veterans.

The USPS was ordered to pre-fund all retiree's health care for the next 75 years. The only organization to ever have that burden placed on it. Ever. If the USPS ever shows a profit, it is confiscated by the federal government. The USPS will forward your mail. Free of charge. SO if you were to send say a wedding invitation to your Aunt Marge in Walla Walla, but you forgot that she moved to Key West, no worries. The USPS will forward it for you at no additional cost. FedEx and UPS would never do that. That 49 cent you spent to send that invitation would get about 200 miles with FedEx and UPS. Plus, the USPS is constitutionally mandated. An amendment to the constitution would be required to privatize it.

Also, this argument has only recently become valid. 10 years ago, you would be wrong.

Let's not forget the law passed forcing the USPS to fund 50 years of pensions in advance and also restricts their ability to raise prices. They would be fine if it weren't for that law. It was called the "post office accountability act" or something like that. USPS is needed since it delivers mail to everyone. Private mail would not deliver to the remote places of the country.

How about the emissions involved in driving around stuffing all that garbage into people's mailboxes? I check my box once a week when I take the trash out and the mail without PII goes right into the can, the rest is destined for the fireplace

Gonna have to disagree on this one. Yeah it loses money but it still is the staple way of correspondence and has the unique obligation to deliver a package to anyplace in the USA and abroad, FedEx and ups don't have that and will often hand over packages to the postal service for the final mile in some places; hell, DHL, at least any time I get a DHL package, just usually can't be bothered and just drives it to the post office directly. It might seem annoying and redundant in the 21st century but we're better off with it than without it.

this did not age well. he did not mention that you can make people not being able to vote if you privatize it. also public services are never meant to make money.

To make this more credible, there's a little congressional mandate in the way. The USPS also delivers everywhere. There's lots of old people and others living in the middle of nowhere who might not get otherwise important deliveries due to their location or their ability to afford things like meds/important correspondence. The USPS is also going to operate no matter what, unlike private companies. So if SHTF we're theoretically going to count on the USPS. I hate their organization as much as anyone else. Probably more than most as I've had many different types of systemic complaints about their services and lack of liability for lack of the former. But, it's more complicated than just getting rid of them. this video oversimplifies the solution.

The title is misleading, but the video clarifies it is already half privatized.

Since the U.S Constitution gives Congress the ability to establish post offices in Article 1 section 8, there would need to be a Constitutional Amendment to overturn that part, and I honestly don't see a Constitutional Amendment for privatization of the post office being successful.

The problem w/ corporations is that they're looking to cut labor costs, paying its employees shit, while they keep all the gains for themselves!

First off, this would result in people in isolated areas not being able to communicate or pay their bills. Such places are just not profitable and a private company would cut them off and say "not my problem." Some things are necessary services that just don't work under a profit motive.

But without the postal service how could i remind people HOW HORRIBLE THE GOVERNMENT IS A DOING ANYTHING?! Oh yeah public schools, public transportation, the department of fish a game, the national parks, garbage dumps, the DMV, the immigration office, AND EVERY OTHER PROGRAM THEY'VE EVER TRIED! It's almost like THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD DO AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE AND LEAVE EVERYTHING TO THE PEOPLE! LOL IF ONLY!

There are a bunch of reasons why complete privatization of the postal service is a TERRIBLE IDEA: People keep bringing up that the postal service is “losing money” without understanding WHY that is. The reason we lose money on it is because the government version REQUIRES that it be able to deliver and take mail from you EVEN IF ITS A NET LOSS EVERY TIME. If we hand it over to private companies, those in extremely rural areas or in extreme poverty will either be completely excluded from getting or receiving mail OR be charged an absurdly high fee to account for the cost (either way it would be pretty unfair and a complete shitshow for some). Not to mention with potential political implications due to how some areas of the country are populated (and with how Mail ballots would be effected by such a change) Not to mention how it would open the door to monopolization, and if one major company was to dominate the ENTIRE industry (say for example Amazon) they jack the prices up to a lucrative degree and nobody would be able to do anything about it, they could also outcompete or buy out any potential smaller competitors due to smaller costs and large profits. It would also box out the people form making any changes to the system as well, as the companies could EASILY grease the hands of politicians to ignore the issue or give them legislation to be exempt from certain laws. This is why cable and WiFi sucks in America, as companies such as Comcast and Verizon have had legislation that made them exempt from monopolization laws, and due to their necessity and large profits have become the second largest congressional spender. However, with the current mixed system it still allows for larger amount of economic movement while giving the industry a chance to innovate and reinvent itself to become more efficient. It provides extra jobs and benefits and encourages each and every company to be subject to the open market, where it can minimize costs, maximize profits, give employees better treatment, and provide customers with a better experience through satisfying their needs and niches that they wouldn’t have been able to without the ability of the market. So although having a government service doesn’t SOUND capitalistic, it actually is fantastic for the country (and we should do it for other industries, to help eliminate monopolies such as the ones that are owned in the funeral industry, providing of eyewear/glasses, and most importantly cable companies) TLDR: the postal service is fine as it is, and we shouldn’t ruin a good system, even if it isn’t perfect sometimes.

The people who work there actually do like it,

At first glance I thought sax players were gonna foot the bill for USPS retirement

Eh, not sure about this one. In many rural areas you won't be able to find a fedex or UPS. For places with small populations any mail service settup there will lose money, and the postal service in that case is the only saving grace for those people.

I wouldn't trust private company to mail me my bills to be honest

8 post office employees disliked this video

We did privatize it in Finland yesrs ago. And results are clear: people have never been less satisfied with it and things are not getting any better. Now they HAVE to economize and they did it by shutting down post offices, delivering on certain days only, and generally laying off people. Now you cannot reliably get your mail, because workers are too busy to worry about every single letter. I mean, getting 98-99 letters correctly delivered out of 100 is pretty good, right? Except for those who could have paid the bill if they had got it ! Or the hospital appointment that was mailed to you, but you got the letter couple of days after the appointment was supposed to take place. And yes, there is competition and they work fast. They just don't deliver everywhere. It is not profitable that way. Just a few real life examples that have hit our news for some years now. Why is that news? Because it used to be reliable, if expensive, and we got spoiled by the luxury of being able to TRUST postal services, and now we have lost that trust.

I worked at USPS for 10 years. Not including letter carriers, only about 2 out of 5 employees actually do anything. We had 3 Stupidvisers that would do nothing. We all knew our jobs. So all the Stupidviser did was flirt with the women and make other people do some lazy ass's job.

LMAO! I love this guy!

Thus far the USPS has given me the best customer service. They're really good about hiding packages from street view and are more likely to take them back to the post office for safe keeping. Being able to have an extra large mailbox is also a nice touch because I order mostly small items but that's also monopoly

There are thousands of little towns that only get mail at all because of the post office. Those places would not get any Amazon packages ever if it weren't for the fact that Amazon contracts with USPS for final delivery. Also any sale would come with an obligation to continue to provide services to well everywhere. If that happens the government will have to guarantee profit from unprofitable routes like they do with stuff like Amtrak where you basically have this private profits, public subsidy system. There is as I understand a route in the grand canyon where the post man rides a mule to deliver mail. Not even kidding. Perhaps you say tough luck to those people. But I personally think mail service is like fire and police and military. Even when difficult it is a government obligation. Just as we shouldn't ignore an invasion of alaska just because it's difficult to defend. Or not put out wild fires just because the cost of fighting the fire is more than the cost of the home it will burn down. We shouldn't leave people without mail. It's an essential part of government services. Also it's Republican voters that are most hurt by the shut down.

According to the head of the postal worker's union, Congress passed a law requiring the p.o. to fund it's future benefit liabilities 75 years into the future. He says that is the source of the debt. Without it, he alleges that the p.o. makes millions per year. Who knows if any of that is accurate? Hopefully, Trump's inspection of the p.o. can straighten this out.

Privatise it.If it can compete with UPS and Fedex then they'll be fine.if not, then someone better will take their place.

Another great video with Andrew Heaton on Reason. My favorite video though with him is the Star Trek: The Libertarian Edition.

i don't think privatizing the post would work in the US because in those countries mentioned the government has a much tighter leash on giant corporations so the postal service is private in one form or another BUT with strict oversight. in the USA government oversight on giant corporations is considered unamerican.

always love seeing a new mostly weekly video. It's funner and more entertaining than all the late night tv shows combined. course my neighbor's dead cat is more entertaining than most of them, so that's not much in the way of competition. so i guess the good news is you're more entertaining than a dead cat. gratz.

Without the post office I wouldn't be able to sell shit online. FedEx and UPS charge way more for small packages. First class mail, flat rate, parcel select and media mail make it possible for me. Otherwise I'd end up paying 12 bucks to UPS for what the post office will do for 3.50 in the same amount of time. And I do like getting my harbor freight coupons in the mail cause I am not printing anything out.

This video shouldn’t be taken seriously since it doesn’t even mention why USPS has been losing money since 2006. Look up the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act. This is a super disingenuous video.

Let's privatize Congress. Oh! Wait, it already is.

The USPS has a couple large customers. UPS and FedEx. They figured out it's cheaper just to deliver some packages to a Post Office and let them deliver it.

Without the postal accountability act it would have made 5 million last year.

Most of the time when I have to go to the post office, it is for some unpleasant statism related purpose, like a professional exam or a traffic ticket. I don't feel bad for the personnel that have to handle the paperwork that I rubbed on my taint.

Daily reminder that allowing a market entity to levy its profits instead of earning them is market manipulation.

Don’t agree with privatizing it but def needs to be reformed. No point in paper mail when everyone has email. They should be reduced to package delivery like fedex and ups and that’s it. But if there are rules put in place by the constitution or regulations from the gov then that’s another topic up for discussion.

Um... I'm pretty sure that the USPS has already been privatized or something almost like it. Sure their employees get federal benefits and such, but they don't have some kind of credentials to wave in your face and take your car. The reason it is illegal for any other company to deliver letters is because all USPS employees are sworn in to protect the mail, deliver everything in a timely manner, and to prevent letters and packages from falling into the wrong hands. Regarding UPS and FedEx, if you think about it, they don't really bother delivering letters and magazines because there isn't really a market for it simply because USPS already has all the room it needs to store the letters and magazines. Boxes on the other hand are very different. And if you look into it, UPS only exists because USPS made a contract with them. They couldn't handle the volume. However, if I'm not mistaken USPS is trying to go back on that contract too which is kinda funny. Also, USPS hasn't received any government funding for several years. I don't remember when it stopped, but I know for a fact that it did.

Rewatching this video with the knowledge that the makers knew the reason the Post Office was operating at a deficit since 2007 and refusing to mention it. Makes me doubt everything that comes out of this channel.

Lol New Zealand... "that place with Hobbits."

I spent 1 hour 28 minutes today on the phone with USPS today. I spoke to a live person for only 15 minutes. Most of the time was on hold (after the automated labyrinth ALLOWED me to wait on hold for a person.)

They should think about privatising the Airforce, they're civilians anyway.

Okay... but what if I need to send a package from CA to the UK. That costs me about $23-$32 with the USPS (who turns it over to the Royal Mail once in the UK). Do you know how much it costs to send packages overseas via FedEx or UPS? About THREE TIMES that amount. That would not be good for me. :/

Huh, 2007 was the same year the iPhone was released. incredible how that little thing managed to create a deficit for the postal service.

The postal services are not privatized in Japan, it's written in the constitution that only the government can provide postal services.

THIS IS DEMOCRACY DIES

If the history has told me one thing, it's the fact that privatization is almost never a good thing, at least not for employees.

This is just gold

Yeah and if your area doesn't make financial sense for the private company then you can just do without mail.

A privatised Post Office will see only areas that make a profit receive postal services, leaving whole regions without any postal access. You simply cannot compare nations with vast land mass with nations with small land mass. Privatisation just doesn't work. Australia Post isn't private and it makes a profit.

If I had to use FedEx, UPS or any other service to deliver the items I sell online, I would lose business. My packages ship for under $2 to $3 because they are so small. With those other companies, I have to charge my customers an extra $4 for shipping, above what I already charge. As a libertarian, I get the issue here, but those other companies would have to show a significant decrease in costs (get rid of the unions, maybe) before I can switch... small businesses like mine need the USPS for now.

the public option keeps private options in check and vis-versa in terms of prices and services....destroying the public option can only make us worse off.

You mention countries that have privatized their mail, but not whether it worked. Swedens privatization has been a total disaster. It still burns government money and it is worse than ever.

Hello........Newman...

Huh, they lost 5.6 billion dollars last year. I remember one thing that could’ve been built with that much money.

post office got a lot worse and was more expensive after it was privatised UK.

we have private post in Britain, it has suddenly become efficient.

Public is fine, but get rid of the subsidies and monopolies. Allow others to compete.

Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 is what has doomed the Post Office.

On second thought, Since our president is this world class business man make him make the USPS and Amtrak run profitably!

I’m curious how privatized postal services in other countries operate? I’m a mail man and I’ve gotta say it seems like it would be a safety hazard and logistical nightmare to have multiple companies attempting to deliver to the same mailboxes. Do they only allow one company to deliver in an area? If that’s