> A central tenet of capitalism is a competitive market though
It's true that a lot of the defense of capitalism that was ginned up (long) after the system was described and named by its critics involves invoking all kinds of hokum about markets which are both free and competitive which not only has nothing to do with anything in the history of capitalism, but isn't even all that internally consistent because of the tendency toward monopoly in unregulated markets where producers experience economies of scale (and in some other common cases.)
But this is a (deeply flawed) rationalization of capitalism, not its foundation.
> The market will bear it and the market has no choice to bear it are two different things.
With textbooks, there is a choice: go without (either taking the class anyway or not.)
That your perceived cost from going without is higher than the cost of paying for the book is, arguably a sign that the book is priced correctly for value. You seem to think that the book "ought" to be priced by cost to produce as they would be in a perfectly competitive market, but that's very often not a feature of real markets. The pricing is based on conditions in the market, which is very much a real -- if very much not an ideal -- market.
Do you actually believe the things you are writing? No, going without a text book is not actually a viable choice if you want to pass a class is it? Are you just trolling?
>"You seem to think that the book "ought" to be priced by cost to produce as they would be in a perfectly competitive market"
Nowhere did I articulate that sentiment at all. There is plenty of room to make a tidy profit without resorting to punitive pricing, even in a captive market.
It's true that a lot of the defense of capitalism that was ginned up (long) after the system was described and named by its critics involves invoking all kinds of hokum about markets which are both free and competitive which not only has nothing to do with anything in the history of capitalism, but isn't even all that internally consistent because of the tendency toward monopoly in unregulated markets where producers experience economies of scale (and in some other common cases.)
But this is a (deeply flawed) rationalization of capitalism, not its foundation.