Quote:
Originally Posted by rkomar
Have wages risen at the same overall rate as inflation? I would say not. I would say that people in general have less money for non-essentials (like books) than they did twenty years ago. If book prices have not tracked inflation, I would say that was because publishers know that sales would go down far more if the prices got much higher. I really don't see book prices not being higher as a sign that readers are lucky, rather it is a sign that they find it more difficult to pay the prices. If people are grumbling that books cost too much, it is within the context of dropping disposable incomes.
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I don't know anything about increases in book prices relative to inflation, but it won't stop me from theorizing! I think one important factor in somewhat flat book prices, if such indeed be the case, is that books are more fungible than most unique items, to employ an apparent contradiction in terms. Even if you can't read the current best seller, there's
something you can read for cheap if not free.
As for books being non-essentials, well, they're not food, clothing or shelter, but in the context where most seem willing and able to pay boatloads of bucks for cellphones, streaming media and so forth, they seem both quite the bargain and, I may add, one of my own personal necessities and that will never change. (I still have a dumbphone, btw, and don't stream media.)