Today’s Wall Street Journal published this letter of mine:
Opposed to privatizing
first-class mail delivery, Edwin Andrews asks "How do you suppose rural
locations will be served by a company that is interested solely in the
bottom line"? (Letters, Dec. 4, responding to "Don’t Be a Square At the Post Office," page one, Nov. 15).
Is this question
serious? Firms in the private sector earn higher profits the better
they are at discovering cost-effective ways of meeting consumer
demands. For example, Wal-Mart got its successful start by creatively
figuring out how to serve small-town America. Especially as the costs
of communication and transportation continue to fall, the false notion
that folks living in rural areas would not be served by private mail
deliverers should be stamped out.
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman
Department of Economics
George Mason University
Fairfax, Va.
