Why Your Raise Is Finally Beating the Cost of College Textbooks

Episode 78 of Wages and Prices tackles a surprising victory for workers: textbook costs. While college tuition keeps climbing, the price of course materials has actually fallen 12 percent over the past five years, thanks to digital rentals, open educational resources, and a shift in how publishers sell. Lucas breaks down the data — average hourly earnings are up 2.4 percent year-over-year, while the Bureau of Labor Statistics' educational books and supplies index dropped 3.2 percent in 2025 alone. Luna asks whether this is a genuine win or a temporary blip, and they explore how the rise of used digital marketplaces and university library programs are reshaping a $15 billion industry. The episode lands on a concrete takeaway: if your raise is 3 percent and textbooks are down 3 percent, that's real purchasing power recovery — and it's a rare bright spot in an otherwise sticky inflation environment. #WagesAndPrices #Economics #TextbookCosts #CollegeAffordability #OER #DigitalTextbooks #PurchasingPower #Inflation #BLS #HigherEd #StudentSpending #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #CostOfLiving #PayRaises #Workers #TextbookPrices #LucasAndLuna Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo