经济学人下载:鹅毛大雪,倾盆大雨

And although the recession made everything worse, the internet is the main culprit. As Christmas cards have gone online (and “green”), so have bills. In 2000, 5% of Americans paid utilities online. Last year 55% did, and eventually everybody will, says Mr Donahoe. Photos now go on Facebook, magazines come on iPads. Already, at least for Americans under a certain age, the post delivers only bad news or nuisances, from jury summonses to junk mail. Pleasant deliveries probably arrive by a parcel service such as UPS or FedEx.

尽管经济衰退迫使百业凋零，但要指出，网络才是罪魁祸首。人们上网寄送圣诞贺卡（“低碳环保”），连账单也电子化了。在2000年,5%的美国人上网交水电煤气费,而去年这一比例是55%。多纳霍先生表示，到头来，人人都将上网交水电煤气费。照片分享用facebook，杂志订阅有ipad。至少对于某一年龄段的美国人来说，邮差送来的净是法院传票或垃圾邮件什么的，只会带来坏消息或麻烦事。而让人高兴的邮件大概会用UPS或FedEx这样的快递公司送来。

Quasi-independent since 1970, the post gets no public money. And yet it is obliged (as FedEx and UPS are not) to visit every mailbox, no matter how remote, six days a week. This has driven the average cost of each piece of mail up from 34 cents in 2006 to 41 cents. Yet the post is not allowed to raise prices (of stamps and such) willy-nilly; a 2006 law set formulas for that. So in effect, the post cannot control either its costs or its revenues.

1970年，邮政服务确定其半独立的财务形式，从此，邮政局不再领取公共拨款。然而，无论距离有多远，一周六天，邮差都要去所管辖的每一个邮箱中查收信件（FedEx和UPS可没这项业务）。这使得每封邮件的平均花费从2006年的34美分增加到了41美分。但不管邮政局愿意不愿意，都不能提高费用（包括邮票面值和其它种种价格）；2006年通过的一条法案对此做出了规定。所以实际上，邮政局既不能控制自己的支出，也无法保证自身的收入。

Nor can it buy companies as freely as postal services in Europe, Canada or Asia have been doing for the past decade. Many European countries, as well as New Zealand and Japan, have already privatised or liberalised their postal services. Combined, foreign posts now get most of their revenue from new businesses such as retailing or banking for consumers, or warehousing and logistics for companies.

在过去十年间，欧洲、加拿大和亚洲各国允许其邮政部门进行商业并购，但在美国，可没有那么自由。在许多欧洲国家，以及新西兰和日本，已经实现邮政服务私有化，或让邮政部门享有自主权。通过兼并整合，当前外国邮政部门的主要收入来自于新设项目，如：零售，提供客户银行服务，和为公司提供货存和物流服务。

So America’s post is looking for other solutions. It is planning to close post offices; up to 3,653, out of about 32,000. This month it announced plans to lay off another 120,000 workers by 2015, having already bidden adieu to some 110,000 over the past four years (for a total of about 560,000 now). It also wants to fiddle with its workers’ pensions and health care.

美国邮政局也正在寻找出路。计划关闭部分邮政所，其数量从约三万两千所消减掉3653所。本月宣布计划在过去四年间解雇十一万人的基础上，到2015年再下岗分流十二万职工（到现在已解雇职工约五十六万人）。还琢磨在员工的退休金和医疗保险上做文章，好进一步削减开支。