Pigdogfucker

Postal trade unionist writes article against post office competition. World amazed.

The most annoying thing is the economic illiteracy of the article. Yes, there may be some social value in offering a universal post service that involves subsidies to rural communities. No, the most efficient way to fund this is obviously not by levying an opaque tax on urban letter-writers (the current cross-subsidy model). Rather, the subsidies should be made explicit and paid out of general taxation – then we’ll know how much we’re paying, and whether it’s worthwhile.

Cross-subsidy of unprofitable state-sector businesses by profitable state-sector businesses is a Bad Thing, precisely because you can’t quantify the cost or benefits of the subsidy. And this has absolutely nothing to do with left-wing or right-wing views on levels of government provision.