The Last Monopoly: Privatizing the Postal Service for the Information Age [Hardcover]

Edward L. Hudgins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 27, 1996

Explores the pros and cons of privatizing the postal service.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 138 pages
• Publisher: Cato Institute (August 27, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1882577310
• ISBN-13: 978-1882577316
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,374,903 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Essential Public Service!, June 15, 2010

By 

LiteBlue Gator (California Swamp) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Last Monopoly: Privatizing the Postal Service for the Information Age (Hardcover)

I enjoyed reading this book! It is a great topic for discussion especially among postal employees. There is a lot of information for privatizing the United States Postal Service and getting rid of the monopoly. As a postal employee I often think that might not be a bad idea with all the dignity and respect issues and lack of employee participation in the business. I have often thought that maybe if the service was privatized there might be better leadership, and the executive leaders might care about people more. But I am not sure because....

As an insider I would have to agree with the thinking that Universal Service means:
- Convenient availability of Post Offices
- Delivery everywhere in the U.S. for one price, 6 days a week.
- Having a government option

from my perspective privatization would mean private entities would put profits before service
although right now the Postal Service puts numbers before people and service.

Privatizing the USPS might mean that universal service would be a thing of the past, and those with the most money would get the best service at the best prices. Less profitable routes might be ignored or excluded, and that might be in the communities with the lowest financial revenues or income.

Privatizing the Post Office offers opportunities for different companies to merge together and corner the market of postal services. They just might drive the cost of services as they see fit. Could be good or bad, and I am afraid to find out (laugh out loud). Would we have to pay for delivery? Will the mailboxes get smaller?

When I look at other countries, they have a much smaller Postal Service than the United States and it is probably a lot easier to manage. We are the "Elephant" in the world.

I hope that the U.S. Postal Service will restructure the business to meet the needs of every household and business in America and become a leader in the era of electronic diversion by engaging the smart employees they hire to do the extraordinary task of delivering the mail six days a week. There is nothing like a good challenge that engages all the players on the team to win a championship year after year!

I do like the author's idea of an employee stock ownership plan. The autocratic management style used in today's workforce breeds a very disruptive environment that does not foster cooperation among team members. I agree that "Employee owners approach their jobs with a far different attitude than most working people. They feel personally responsible for their company's performance, they are loyal to their company, and they are responsive to their needs. That situation, in turn, creates a productive sense of teamwork between management and non-managerial employees. Increasing the level of employee ownership will help make America, a richer, more competitive country by empowering working people with the rights and responsibilities of ownership, giving them incentives they never had as hourly employees."

I love that quote from this book, and think that if we can create that kind of ownership we would not need to consider privatizing one of the most effective forms of communication (delivery of U.S. Mail) that binds the nation together.

2.0 out of 5 stars Should be named: Mail @ 1998, August 24, 2001

By 

RicR2 (McLean, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Last Monopoly: Privatizing the Postal Service for the Information Age (Hardcover)

The opening sentence of Acknowledgements succinctly summarizes this book: "The papers in this volume are from the . . . conference . . . held December 2, 1998." Well, a lot has changed since then. Most importantly, the USPS surpluses of that time have turned into severe deficits. Therefore, If you're not familiar with USPS issues, do read this. If you are, for example, if you have read Hudgin's previous book on USPS, this contains little that is new.

4 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book on a monopoly that needs to go, April 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Last Monopoly: Privatizing the Postal Service for the Information Age (Paperback)

Have you ever wondered why the cost of stamps keeps going up, even as technology brings the cost of so many other goods and services down?

Have you wondered why, at so many post offices, service is poor and employees have a surly attitude?

The simple answer is that the USPS is a monopoly. This book does a good job of explaining the problems of this government monopoly, why a private mail carrier would do the work more efficiently and at less cost, and how to get from here to there.

Highly recommended by this reader.