Lucid Culture

When asked by a stock analyst if the Barnes and Noble bookstore mega-chain would be interested in gobbling up its biggest rival chain, Borders Books & Music, a spokesman for Barnes and Noble stated that though they had no strategic plan to acquire the country’s second-largest bookseller, they would be interested in speaking with Borders’ investment bankers. According to Publishers Weekly, this came to light in the wake of an almost ten percent dip in B&N’s net income for their fiscal year ending last month. The decline in earnings was attributed to the deterioration in music sales (which comes as something of a surprise, that music made up even this relatively small a percentage of B&N’s overall sales).

Despite perilous economic conditions, every poll indicates that those Americans who actually read are doing so at a record clip. Expect that to finally come to an end when books are only available at one central location who have complete control over pricing.

Imagine this happening under Jimmy Carter. Or Nixon, for that matter. It wouldn’t. Thank you Ronald Reagan for destroying antitrust protection for consumers.