Why Are College Textbooks So Expensive?
Why Are College Textbooks So Expensive?
You pay hundreds for a textbook. The person who chose it got their copy free in the mail. This video explains why US college textbook prices climbed for two decades, why the 2008 price-disclosure law changed almost nothing, and what made the price finally stop after 2017.
Sources: GAO, Bureau of Labor Statistics, NACS Student Watch, College Board.
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Financial Minds explains why things cost what they cost — the business model behind it, the design decision behind that, and the person who figured it out first.
No advice. No lectures. One question per video.
Video Summary
AI GeneratedThe video examines the systemic failure of government attempts to lower college textbook prices and explains why prices finally began to drop. It argues that because professors (the choosers) do not pay for the books, they are indifferent to cost, rendering price disclosure laws ineffective. Real change only occurred when students (the payers) found ways to bypass the traditional market.