Universities could solve these problems in many ways, including just having a price-cap on student textbooks. That the problem continues isn't because the righ

Universities could solve these problems in many ways, including just having a price-cap on student textbooks. That the problem continues isn't because the right tweak hasn't been tried but because university administrators allow this situation. The reason they allow the situation is both that they some material interest in it but also because the administrators and funders of the university operate with an ideology that sees markets inherently as a solution to problems. The concept of using endless debt to pay an escalating price for privatized knowledge is the epitome of efficient use of resources in this view. And your idea of rebundling the costs certainly would change the regime if it somehow got tried.