Because of its independent status it isn’t listed as part of the federal budget numbers or in my charts above, but as we all know in the age of email and social media, the USPS has been hemorrhaging money for years. In 2014 it lost $5.5 billion, in 2015 it lost $5.1 billion, in 2016 it lost $5.6 billion. It actually posted a hefty one time net profit in 2022, and its total outstanding debt has dropped a lot as a result, but it is back to hemorrhaging money by the billions in 2023.
Can we all admit that the future is clearly not in physical mail going to every single address on a daily basis?
In keeping with my mindset of the federal government being the referee and not the player on the field (unless it has to), I do not see any reason why the USPS cannot be privatized and allow the business world to take over and see if it can’t do a better job and return it to consistent profitability.
It can still operate under federal government oversight in terms of making sure it is following the law and fulfilling its constitutional requirements, but we need to try selling it off and see if private business can do it better.
Perry Waag 