APWU News – 03/30/2015 – A recent “study” by a Harvard-educated economist asserting the Postal Service has an “unfair competitive advantage” over private-sector delivery companies has garnered a lot of attention in recent days. The “study” by Robert J. Shapiro was the subject of articles in the Washington Post and Fortune, and was the centerpiece of a panel discussion at the well-known Brookings Institution on March 25.
The headline in Fortune was eye-catching, to say the least: ‘American Taxpayers Give an $18 Billion Gift to the Post Office Every Year,’ the Wall Street mouthpiece asserted.
But so far, discussion of Shapiro’s claims has omitted a crucial detail: The study was financed by United Parcel Service, the Postal Service’s chief private-sector competitor and a long-time proponent of postal privatization.
“UPS has advocated privatization of the Postal Service for more than 30 years,” said APWU President Mark Dimondstein. “So it’s not surprising that the company would make these wild claims.
“It’s troubling, however, that the liberal Brookings Institution would feature Shapiro at an event that was promoted as a serious discussion of the future of the Postal Service without revealing that his research was provided by UPS.
“There’s a lesson there,” Dimondstein added. “Postal privatizers come from both major political parties.” Shapiro, who holds a Ph.D. from Harvard, runs Sonecon, Inc., a private economic consulting firm. He was Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs in the Clinton administration and advised the campaigns and transition of Barack Obama.
“This fancy, footnoted study is nothing more than an effort to turn over our public Postal Service to the private sector,” Dimondstein said.
Source: APWU
PEN Ed: Please note what the APWU President says… “Postal privatizers come from both major political parties.”
The study greatly disturbed me for several reasons, mainly because it spun so many “facts” and seemed to have a deep agenda. So much seemed even more than spin, even outright lies and ignorance under the guise of scholarship.
To come from a university is even more disturbing. What other studies have been hijacked or paid for by those with axes to grind?
Where is the credibility factor?
The author of the article and the pseudo-researchers should all be censured or worse.
The Postal Service is not without its problems, but many are conceived and nurtured by government and competitors.