Businessweek: Look for Postal Service bailout next year

Government bailouts have proven unpopular with the general public. However, Bloomberg Businessweek is warning that the US Postal Service might be the next organization that needs one.

The business news website explains that because the USPS can't make decisions about its own financial future in the same way that a private business can, it's more likely to fall further into financial peril.

“Any management consultant would recommend the obvious: Close unnecessary offices, lay off workers, expand into new lines of business and raise prices,” notes Businessweek's Angela Greiling Keane. “But this is the US Postal Service. It's expected to show a profit without a government subsidy, yet Congress, powerful labor unions and its own regulators are preventing it from making hard-nosed business decisions. The result could be a painful restructuring or a government bailout before the fiscal year ends next September 30.”