Future Retirement Success
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks

Future Retirement Success

Investing

Postal Services Going Extinct

by April 7, 2025
April 7, 2025
Postal Services Going Extinct

Chris Edwards

President Trump’s anti-market impulses are taking center stage this week with his damaging tariff policies. But the president is occasionally supportive of pro-market reforms, such as his remarks on possibly privatizing the US Postal Service (USPS). A Trump reform push would be welcome because the USPS is an ailing dinosaur in the modern digital economy.

The figure below shows that USPS revenues are a shrinking part of gross domestic product (GDP). While revenues from packages and shipping have risen, revenues from letters, marketing mail, and periodicals have plunged. Excluding packages and shipping, USPS revenues have fallen to less than one-third the level of 2000, relative to GDP.

The volume of first-class mail has fallen 57 percent since peaking 2001, even as the US population increased 21 percent. Mail volume is falling year after year, relentlessly. While USPS package and shipping volume has grown, we do not need the government providing that service because it is provided by numerous competitive private firms. 

With its core products in terminal decline, the only way for the USPS to survive is to cut costs, innovate, and find new markets. However, those are difficult tasks for a government entity, and we also don’t want the government to expand unfairly into private industries. Therefore, the best solution for the USPS to survive and add value to the economy is privatization.

More on USPS reform here, here, here, and here.

Chart based on author calculations from USPS financial statements here, here, here, and here.

0
FacebookTwitterGoogle +Pinterest
previous post
Noem’s Homeland Security ‘unapologetic’ about using lie-detector test on suspected intel leakers
next post
We Have a Bad Globalization Narrative, Not Bad Economics

You may also like

North Carolina’s $1.2 Billion Bet on EV Startup...

April 23, 2024

A Different Perspective on “Climate Change and Globalization”

April 24, 2024

The Phonics Resurgence

June 14, 2023

Americans Should Not Expect the Fed to Lower...

June 27, 2023

How Subsidies in the Inflation Reduction Act Undermine...

September 22, 2023

What’s Driving the Drop in Overdose Deaths?

May 15, 2025

Crime Rates, Not the Number of Crimes, Are...

April 17, 2024

Immigration Restrictions Prevent Mutually Beneficial Exchange

September 22, 2023

Cato Forum Probes Farm Subsidies

October 3, 2023

Changing the Rules in the Face of Increasing...

July 25, 2023

    Get free access to all of the retirement secrets and income strategies from our experts! or Join The Exclusive Subscription Today And Get the Premium Articles Acess for Free

    By opting in you agree to receive emails from us and our affiliates. Your information is secure and your privacy is protected.

    Recent Posts

    • Trump’s Debanking Order Calls for Investigation, Something Tennessee Should Have Done

      August 9, 2025
    • The Ivy faces legal challenge from waiter over share of tips and service charges

      August 9, 2025
    • Smarter mining, more stable returns: RICH Miner launches convenient cloud mining app supporting XRP and BTC

      August 9, 2025
    • Sydney Sweeney jeans controversy making advertising great again

      August 9, 2025
    • Nagasaki mayor issues chilling warning on 80th anniversary of atomic bombing

      August 9, 2025
    • MIKE DAVIS: Eric Tung is Trump’s pick to bring sanity to the Ninth Circuit

      August 9, 2025

    Categories

    • Business (8,730)
    • Investing (2,191)
    • Politics (16,347)
    • Stocks (3,228)
    • About us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions

    Disclaimer: futureretirementsuccess.com, its managers, its employees, and assigns (collectively “The Company”) do not make any guarantee or warranty about what is advertised above. Information provided by this website is for research purposes only and should not be considered as personalized financial advice. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendation. Any investments recommended here should be taken into consideration only after consulting with your investment advisor and after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.

    Copyright © 2025 futureretirementsuccess.com | All Rights Reserved