College textbook prices have violently outpaced the rate of standard inflation by over eight hundred percent since the late 1970s, making them one of the most aggressively…

A closer look

College textbook prices have violently outpaced the rate of standard inflation by over eight hundred percent since the late 1970s, making them one of the most aggressively price-gouged consumer products in the entire American economy. Publishing monopolies regularly release new editions every single year that do absolutely nothing but shuffle the chapter order and change a few review questions, effectively rendering last year's perfectly good used copies completely obsolete. Professors mandate these specific new editions, creating a trapped market where broke college students are forced to take out predatory federal loans just to buy a three-hundred-dollar access code for a digital PDF that expires in four months. It is a highly sophisticated, legally protected racket that successfully introduces eighteen-year-olds to the crushing reality of late-stage capitalism before they even step foot into their first terrible entry-level job