The cover story of this week's issue of Bloomberg Businessweek examines the United States Postal Service as it hurtles toward insolvency at an alarming rate.

Facing a projected $6.4 billion loss this year, the Postal Service is expected to hit its own debt ceiling by the end of this fiscal year on Sept. 30.

The federal government will then have to choose between letting the agency default on its massive pension obligations or bailing it out to the tune of more than $50 billion.