Mark J. Perry at the American Enterprise Institute has created a graph comparing the increase in textbook prices since 1978 to that of medical services, new homes, and the consumer price index:
As Perry states, “Compared to the 250% increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) over the last 34 years, college textbooks have risen more than three times the amount of the average increase for all goods and services.” In fact, according to this graph textbooks have doubled in price since I was an undergraduate.
Perry discusses competition for textbooks, including free alternatives mentioned at Slate. I don’t think I’m alone in that most of my courses use scanned articles and book chapters rather than textbooks, but this practice likely makes textbooks more expensive for those who need to use them. I’m not optimistic that prices will decrease any time soon.
Via: The Atlantic
Memoirs of a SLACer 