<p>Textbooks were expensive when I was in college, but I never paid over $100 for one book, a common occurrence now, according to commenters on <a href="http://www.metafilter.com/63207/The-revolution-will-be-hardbound-and-highlighted" target="blank">this item</a> at <a href="http://www.metafilter.com" target="blank">Metafilter</a> (via <a href="http://www.maudnewton.com" target="blank">Maud Newton</a>). The outrageous prices and frequent new editions are bad enough, but according to <a href="http://www.maketextbooksaffordable.org/newsroom.asp?id2=15618" target="blank">this report</a>, publishers are sticking it to U.S. students while selling the same textbooks at much lower prices overseas:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The average textbook surveyed costs 20 percent more in the United States than it does in the United Kingdom.</p>

<p>Some textbooks were dramatically more expensive in the United States than in the United Kingdom. For example, Pearson’s Calculus textbook, selling for about $100 in the U.S., costs only $38 on the U.K. Amazon.com website, just one third the price. Freeman’s Chemical Principles textbook, priced at $185 in the U.S., is available in the U.K. for only $88—half the price.</p>

<p>Some publishers display overseas prices on their websites. For example, Thomson Learning’s website lists the prices charged to students in the U.S., U.K., Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. According to this website, for the books included in our survey, Thomson Learning charges U.S. students 72 percent more, on average, than it does students in the U.K., Africa and Middle East. Some books are priced even higher. For example, Thomson Learning charges U.S. students $108 for its Biology textbook, but charges students in the U.K., Africa, and Middle East only $51 for the same book.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It doesn't take a genius to figure out <strong>why</strong> publishers can charge twice as much for textbooks here at home: student loans. Yes, it's subsidized capitalism at its finest. Since we the people have deemed higher education to be a worthwhile investment, it's only fitting that those who supply the goods should get two or three times their fair share of the take. Without our system of government-guaranteed student loans, publishers would never get away with these prices&mdash;just like they don't in other countries.</p>
<p>It's funny (and sad) how some people get so up in arms over individuals (i.e., recipients of funds from social welfare programs) who "work the system," but nobody bats an eye when corporations do it.</p>