Sticker shock

The cost of a forever stamp is going up to 73 cents each

7/11/24 9:53AM

From Sunday, sending a 1 oz. letter with a first-class stamp will cost an extra nickel, as the United States Postal Service raises the price of a "Forever" stamp to 73 cents, from 68 cents, its second price hike this year. Fees on other products are also jumping, with overall mailing services set to rise ~7.8%, per USPS.

Straddling a line between a standalone business and a public service, the economics of the USPS are deeply intertwined with the federal government's, allowing the entity to rack up losses.

The series of price increases we've witnessed since 2021 — a total of six for “Forever” stamps — is just one part of the agency's broader 10-year plan to revitalize its finances. Introduced in 2021, the plan aims to get the agency to break even by 2030. However, USPS missed its targets for fiscal year 2023, reporting a $7 billion deficit, and it has rarely turned a profit since 2006.

As we graduated from physical mailboxes to overflowing email inboxes, mail volumes, particularly letter volumes, have steadily declined. Squeezed by waning demand and rising costs, the price of letter-sending has far outpaced the broader Consumer Price Index since 1958 — had they tracked inflation, a stamp would cost just 43 cents.

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From Desi Arnaz to SpaceX: Understanding the rules of the modern economy

We talked with “Planet Money” author Alex Mayyasi about how AI might help or replace you, the superstar effect, and how the compounding effect extends beyond money.

Globes covered with various currencies suspended in space

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Ahead of Mother’s Day, Google searches for “same day flower delivery” have ticked up a little earlier this year

If you’ve already made plans for a Mother’s Day gift in advance of this Sunday, congratulations. But if alarm bells are suddenly ringing, consider this a gentle reminder that, like a sizable share of the US population this time of year often does, you can still scrape together some last-minute flowers for the woman who carried you for nine months.

Data from Google Trends reveals that searches for “same day flower delivery” spike in the US in May every year, when Mother’s Day takes place. As we noted last February, the same query also gains traction around Valentine’s Day.

This year, however, it appears that searches for last-minute flowers have remained elevated in the last two months after the usual peak in February — with the search interest this April actually exceeding that seen around Cupid’s Day.

Honestly, we’re not sure why searches are spiking a little early. One explanation might be that Passover and Easter have overlapped at the start of April, and Americans wanted to celebrate with some flowers. Maybe it’s a host of Claude bots that are now running errands for AI-obsessed execs — or perhaps Americans are just impulse-buying some seasonal spring blooms after an unusually warm March, without a particular occasion.