Earlier this week, the U.S. Postal Service reported that it had suffered a $2.1 billion loss in the second quarter of 2014. That’s much worse than the $740 million second-quarter loss last year, and marginally worse than the $1.9 billion loss in this year’s first quarter. But before readers scoff at bureaucrats’ business acumen, understand that those in charge of running the Postal Service have had their hands tied for decades by short-sighted politicians and a powerful government employee union.

It’s not surprising that the role of mail has diminished significantly in America, as the Internet has steadily undermined the Postal Service’s business model, including its monopoly on first-class delivery. According to Postal Service statistics, first-class mail volume is down 32 percent since 2004. Total volume is down 23 percent — even junk mail, which now makes up more than half of all mail, is down — and despite several price increases during that period, postal revenues are down as well.