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Salient. Victoria University of Wellington Students' Newspaper. Volume 31, Number 18. July 30, 1968

Book bang

Book bang

Sir—I wish to bring to your readers' attention what must surely be one of the most flagrant cases of predatory profiteering ever. It concerns a hardback textbook which was written by three members of the academic staff of this university and made a compulsory text. The book. which was published and printed in New Zealand, contains 468 pages of text and sells at the tyrannically imposed over-inflated price of $14. As a comparison I have drawn up the following table of other hardback text-hooks on related topics:

Where printed Pages of text Price
USA 400 $5.50
USA 700 $13.50
USA 429 $5.40
USA 795 $7.80
Aust. 555 $8.45
USA 460 $8.45
Britain 546 $5.50
USA 721 $8.50
Britain 566 $2.60
USA 487 $3.80
NZ 604 $10
NZ 526 $8.50
NZ 610 $8.50

I hope that there exists some form of organised resistance against this academic extortion which threatens to relegate us all to a state of poverty.

For fear of recrimination from these and other staff members who exult in their ready made world of obligorchial rapacity I am compelled to remain,

Anonymous,

[Anonymity is permitted only in special circumstances—ed.]