6. Deutsche Post (Germany)
If the Tea Party had its way, the future of the USPS might look a lot like Germany, which has the only fully privatized post office in the G-20. Though it is still required by law to deliver nationwide six days a week, Deutsche Post has jettisoned almost all of its infrastructure since it was privatized in 1995, eliminating 100,000 positions and all but 24 of its physical buildings. German post offices are now, for the most part, within other business like banks, grocery stores, and -- in some rural areas -- private homes.
Though it lags behind public competitors in efficiency -- its carriers deliver less than a fifth of the letters than their counterparts in the USPS -- Deutsche Post has been innovative in other areas such as E-Postbrief, which allows customers to sent e-mails that are delivered as physical mail. In 2002, Deutsche Post purchased international logistics company DHL, making it the world's largest courier service -- meaning that many Americans have actually already used the German post office without even realizing it.
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