College Texbook Publishers Compared To Drug Companies

For any one who has had the joy of purchasing a college text book, I don’t need to mention the high cost associated with most text books. It seems that the college text book publishers, which have a corner on the market, are able to gouge students with their high pricing. One professor compares these publishers to the drug industry, which also demands high prices.This one statement says a lot:

SQUINT hard, and textbook publishers can look a lot like drug makers. They both make money from doing obvious good — healing, educating — and they both have customers who may be willing to sacrifice their last pennies to buy what these companies are selling.It is that fact that can suddenly turn the good guys into bad guys, especially when the prices they charge are compared with generic drugs or ordinary books. A final similarity, in the words of R. Preston McAfee, an economics professor at Cal Tech, is that both textbook publishers and drug makers benefit from the problem of “moral hazards” — that is, the doctor who prescribes medication and the professor who requires a textbook don’t have to bear the cost and thus usually don’t think twice about it.

In a min revolt, some books are now being made available online for students to download. It is to bad the same can not be true for prescription drugs.

Comments welcome.

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