Well, in fact domains used to cost $100 per year. This was back when Network Solutions was the sole registrar. Some of my older domains date back to then. It

Well, in fact domains used to cost $100 per year. This was back when Network Solutions was the sole registrar. Some of my older domains date back to then. It really didn't stop speculation at all, in fact Robert Grant (well known domain speculator) made most of his money back in the days when domains were priced at $100. However, I do believe that the current cheap domains have made the "register expired page-ranked domains" SEO scheme work, and it probably wouldn't be going on if it wasn't for cheap domains.