Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!mips!pacbell.com!news.arc.nasa.gov!xn.ll.mit.edu!olsen From: olsen@xn.ll.mit.edu Newsgroups: comp.org.eff.talk Subject: Re: Idea to help curb unwanted junk mail Message-ID: <1991Jun17.164218.22312@xn.ll.mit.edu> Date: 17 Jun 91 16:42:18 GMT References: <1991Jun13.042624.17037@athena.cs.uga.edu> <1991Jun14.163229.13916@xn.ll.mit.edu> Organization: MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Lexington, MA Lines: 24 muffy@remarque.berkeley.edu (Muffy Barkocy) writes: >I don't understand this, though. If the postal service is taking money >they *make* on first class mail and *spending* it on junk mail, how are >they squeezing more money out of the monopoly? You must understand that government is different from private business. In a business, the goal is to make a profit. In government, the stated goal is to provide the best service for the least cost. The _de_facto_ goal (i.e., what is actually rewarded) is usually to increase your budget and employ more people. The PO budget for first-class mail is relatively secure, since they can bring criminal charges against anyone who tries to compete with them. By skimming money from the first-class monopoly, they can subsidize the other classes, where they must face competition. The net result is not a profit, which they're not interested in anyway, but a larger budget and workforce, which they are deeply interested in. Everyone wins, except the people who have to pay for first-class postage (and the people who don't like junk mail). -- Jim Olsen olsen@mit.edu