> 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.