
How can the Postal Service solve its financial problems? What is the future role of the Postal Service at a time when digital alternatives are replacing many of the functions of hard copy mail? These are the questions facing policymakers and the postal community.
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Sometimes the best way to answer serious questions is to ask even more questions. A deeper look at foundational issues can provide valuable guidance for reaching the right decisions. Last month, the OIG issued a white paper Fundamental Questions for the Future of the Postal Service.
In the paper, we pose eight questions that we think are fundamental for determining the role of the Postal Service in the 21st century:
1. What is the nation’s essential need for the Postal Service in the 21st century?
2. Is a profit-driven business or a national infrastructure best suited to carry out the Postal Service’s mission?
3. How should the nation’s Postal Service be financed?
4. What is the proper governance model for the Postal Service?
5. What does the universal service obligation mean?
6. Does monopoly-financed universal service assist or harm the Postal Service?
7. Should the Postal Service be allowed to expand into nonpostal services to supplement monopoly shortfall?
8. Should the Postal Service have additional social responsibilities beyond its core mission?
We are raising these questions not to provide answers but to spur discussion. We want to hear your views. What do you think the right answers are? Have we left any fundamental questions out?
This topic is hosted by the OIG’s Risk Analysis Research Center (RARC).
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