Because no one knows what will happen in the marketplace, the Postal Service must have increased pricing flexibility within the non-competitive category to respond to marketplace changes with differential pricing adjustments. We agree with the Postal Service that this pricing flexibility should apply at the basket level, not the subclass level. That Faces Competition . And Should Be Encouraged . Postal Service competitors argue that any form of competition by the Postal Service is inherently bad.
Competition is inherently good.
Competition fosters innovation and efficiency, and benefits mail users and all consumers by ensuring the greatest choices among competing alternatives in terms of both price and service. The goal should not be to eliminate the Postal Service as a competitor, but to maximize competition within reasonable boundaries that guard against abuse of the postal monopoly. If competition is arbitrarily precluded, or if rates for competitive products are arbitrarily priced at a markup above what the marketplace will bear, the Postal Service will lose that volume and its institutional cost contribution. Rates for the remaining mail, even in the non-competitive category, will have to be increased. Postal Rate Commissioner Ruth Goldway, in her February 11 testimony to the Committee, has correctly recognized the importance of maintaining beneficial competition , rather than insulating competitors from competition.