U.S. Postal Service’s Monopolies (video podcast)
No matter where you live in America, the U.S. Postal Service will deliver your first-class mail for the price of a stamp. To help ensure it can fulfill its mission of providing universal service, Congress granted USPS two monopolies that help protect USPS revenues. These monopolies allow only your mailman—not other companies like UPS or FedEx—to deliver certain types of mail, and put items in your mailbox.
However, given the rise of social and digital communication, USPS is losing money due to a substantial decline in mail and related funding streams. The agency has experienced net losses of more than $60 billion over the past decade, and expects mail volume to continue declining for the foreseeable future, potentially jeopardizing its mission.
In today’s video podcast, we’re on location outside of a Washington, D.C. post office with Lori Rectanus, a director in our Physical Infrastructure team. Watch our discussion about the state of USPS’s monopolies, and what might happen if Congress were to eliminate them.
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