Prisons, Post Offices

From: Tim McGraw

Sent: Friday, December 27, 2019 11:39 AM

To: [email protected]

Subject: Privatization is Resurrecting Feudalism: Dr. Paul Craig Roberts

Privatization is Resurrecting Feudalism: Dr. Paul Craig Roberts

https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2019/12/27/privatization-is-resurrecting-feudalism/

Hi Walter,

I just read the most recent column by Dr. Paul Craig Roberts (link above.) I’m interested in how you would debate or refute the points made by Dr. Paul Craig Roberts.

Also, I had no idea that Britain has privatized its postal service. I mail letters and packages to the UK fairly often and the service is very fast (less than a week sometimes). Whereas mail to Canada can take weeks to get there. Canadian customs and mail are awful.

Here in California due to the PG & E utility fiasco, almost everyone is calling for the state of California to take over the large utility.

All the best,

Tim McGraw

Healdsburg, CA

Dear Tim:

I see nothing wrong with prison labor, nor with prisoners not keeping the benefits of their labor. (I’m talking real prisoners here, not those “guilty” of victimless crimes; the latter should all be pardoned, forthwith). The money the prisoners earn, over and above what is needed to feed, clothe and guard them, should go to their victims.

What we have now is not private prisons. What we now have is prisons that are contracted out by government. I think libertarians can favor the former, but not the latter.

I’m shocked, shocked, I tells you, that private post offices work better than their statist counterparts. Here are some readings on this:

Adie, 1988, 1990a, 1990b; Alston, 2007; Bresiger, 2004; Butler, 1986; Moore, T., 1990; Moore, S., 1987; Priest, 1975; Robbins, 2000; Roberts, 2005; Rockwell, 2002.

Adie, Douglas K. 1988. Monopoly Mail: Privatizing the United States Postal Service, New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction

Adie, Douglas K. 1990a. The Mail Monopoly: Analyzing Canadian Postal Service, Vancouver: The Fraser Institute

Adie, Douglas K. 1990b. “Why Marginal Reform of the U.S. Postal Service Won’t Succeed,” pp. 73-92, in Free the Mail: Ending the Postal Monopoly, Peter J. Ferrara, ed., Washington, D.C.: The Cato Institute

Alston, Wilton D. 2007 “What Would Happen If the Post Office Had Competition?” June 6;

https://www.lewrockwell.com/alston/alston21.html

Bresiger, Gregory. 2004. “Post Office Hell.” December, 22; http://www.mises.org/fullstory.aspx?Id=1696

Butler, Stuart M. 1986. “Privatizing Bulk Mail,” Management, Vol. 6, No. 1; http://books.google.com/books?id=KAiSm1teWV8C&pg=PA108&lpg=PA108&dq=%22Privatizing+Bulk+Mail,%E2%80%9D+Management&source=bl&ots=32hrL0OJjB&sig=indjtSQkByy619GL2lbvbiXik1U&hl=en&sa=X&ei=NfD7UaKzMJD08AT5koC4Ag&ved=0CD8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22Privatizing%20Bulk%20Mail%2C%E2%80%9D%20Management&f=false

Moore, Stephen. 1987. “Privatizing the U.S. Postal Service,” in Stephen Moore and Stuart Butler, eds., Privatization, Washington: Heritage Foundation.

Moore, Thomas G. 1990. “The Federal Postal Monopoly: History, Rationale, and Future,” pp. 61-72, Free The Mail: Ending the Postal Monopoly ed. Peter J. Ferrara. Washington, D.C.: CATO Institute

Priest, George. 1975. “The History of the Postal Monopoly in the United States,” Journal of Law and Economics, Vol. 18, No. 33, pp. 33-80

Robbins, Jay Chris. 2000. “The Post Office and E-Commerce.” September 15;

http://www.mises.org/story/506

Roberts, Ted. 2005. “Postal Commissars to Raise Rates. Don’t Complain.” May 2.

http://www.mises.org/story/1812

Rockwell Jr., Llewellyn H. 2002. “Can the Market Deliver Letters? December 17;

http://www.mises.org/story/1119

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