Quote:
Originally Posted by mr ploppy
Unpopular from a consumer point of view, but he's actually right. Without a fixed price, competition will decrease. History shows us that.
|
Precisely. Many European countries have fixed pricing for books on the grounds that, while it may perhaps be better for the individual consumer to have unrestricted competition, it makes society as a whole a lot poorer. Every shopping street in Britain used to have its independent bookseller; today we just have Waterstones. Does being able to buy the latest trashy bestseller half price in a supermarket make up for the loss of the small book shop? I'm not so sure it does.