Recently, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe informed a U.S. Senate Committee that “dramatic and steep decreases” in first class mail led to a $3.1 billion shortfall in Post Office revenues from April to June. The Post Office’s situation, which Donahoe described as “catastrophic,” is so dire that by Sept. 30, the Post Office will reach its statutory $15 billion borrowing limit.
How much money is $15 billion?
According to the World Bank, $15 billion exceeds the entire Gross National Product of many nations. (GNP is the amount of money generated by everyone in a nation.) $15 billion doesn’t just exceed the GNP of small nations like Kiribati, whose citizens only generated $151 million in 2010. The Post Office deficit exceeds the GNP of nation such as Iceland ($12.6 billion), Jamaica ($14 billion) and Cambodia ($11.3 billion).
Remarkably, the deficit is more than twice this size of the entire GNP of Nicaragua ($6.5 billion) or the Bahamas ($7.5 billion).
The Post Office’s $15 deficit even exceeds the deficits of all but two states — California and Illinois. New Jersey, which has the third largest deficit, owes $10.6 billion. New York owes $8.2 billion. The next most indebted state, Connecticut, owes $3.8 billion, an amount only 25 percent as large as the Post Office deficit.
That’s not all. The Post Office deficit is equal to more than twice the entire yearly budget of the National Science Foundation. It is roughly 50 percent larger than the entire yearly budget of the Department of Commerce or the Department of the Interior. And it is almost seven times the yearly budget of the Small Business Administration.
On the other hand, the Post Office deficit isn’t any bigger than the value of Groupon. The online coupon company has been valued at $15 to $25 billion. And since the value of the average NFL team is $1.4 billion, the Post Office’s debt is no larger than the value of about 11 NFL teams.
By some measures, $15 billion is little more than pocket change. According to a Pentagon official, the U.S. military spent $20.2 billion last year on air conditioning in Iraq and Afghanistan alone. Warren Buffet could solve the Post Office deficit by donating a mere 24 percent of his immense 62 billion dollar fortune to cover the $15 billion deficit.
Patrick Donahoe, “Statement of Postmaster General/Ceo Patrick R. Donahoe Before the Committee On Homeland Security And Governmental Affairs United States Senate, September 6, 2011″, Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs
World Bank, “GDP (Current US$)”, World Bank National Accounts
White House, “The Budget for Fiscal Year 2010″, Executive Office of the President of the United States
Melissa Harris, “Lower Valuation for Groupon IPO Might Not Be so Bad”, Chicago Tribune
Jim Peltz, “Chargers’ value would increase with move to L.A.”, Los Angeles Times
NPR Staff, “Among The Costs Of War: Billions A Year In A.C.?”, National Public Radio
Susan Torres, “12 Things You can Buy for $700 Billion,” Boston.com staff