Victimizing students

Add this to the student loan debt debacle. In fact, it's another facet of that crime because the debt is partly a consequence of students buying these required textbooks with their loan money.

By the 812% (!) multiplier shown below, a required textbook that cost $25.00 in 1978 would cost just over $200.00 today. You can argue that today's textbooks are much better than they were back then, but c'mon.  Some fields, like biology, have been advancing dramatically, and those require frequent up-dating.  But plenty of courses in math, history, literature, art, foreign languages, and many other fields could still be taught just fine from 1978 textbooks, and nearly all from 2010 textbooks.

What's going on here is a constant introduction of new editions of textbooks to protect the flow of profits against what's become a very efficient used book market:  A new textbook has about two years before the selling of used copies kills its sales. Smarter students have figured out that the new $200 edition is almost the same as the previous edition they can buy on Amazon for $20 or even less, so that's what they do.  Web-based required assignments and materials, which require a new-book access code, are a common way publishers encourage students to buy the new edition.

Byron