Japanese Postal Reform

Japan has privatized their postal system. Reason has more about it here. I'm still waiting for Bush to propose a plan to privatize USPS. My guess is I'll be waiting for quite a long time.

Update: On the site that I linked to above, I found a new website that I added to my list of links. The link is to an organization called the Consumer Postal Council. It lists the following objectives:

a) eliminating the government monopoly for postal services, (b) ensuring that while the government monopoly exists for postal mail services, the U.S. and other postal services do not abuse their monopoly by overcharging monopoly mail users, and (c) seeking a delivery marketplace that is free of the distortions of government monopolies and other government privileges.

It also promotes the following:

• Bring sensible reform to U.S. Postal Service business practices, including greater transparency, improved productivity and reasonable measurement and control of costs

• Where the Postal Service does compete in the commercial marketplace, make sure that it does so fairly and on a level playing field

• Promote competition within the mail delivery system wherever possible.