Universal Open Access Mandates By Universities Moot The Problem of Uncontrolled Journal Price Inflation Caused By Inelastic Demand

"Stuart Shieber, architect of Harvard's OA Mandate, asks: "Do we continue the status quo, which involves only supporting a business model known to be subject to uncontrolled inflationary spirals, or do we experiment with new mechanisms that have the potential to be economically sound and far more open to boot?"
"The answer is simple: The only reason the uncontrolled inflation of journal subscription costs is a problem at all (and also the reason the upward spiral continues uncontrolled) is the world's universities' inelastic demand and need for access to one another's peer-reviewed journal articles.""

(source: Open Access Archivangelism, 01/09/09)