That was fast. Just this morning the Times released its (demoralizing) second quarter earnings and shortly thereafter on a conference call to discuss the report New York Times Co. president and CEO Janet Robinson announced that as of Aug. 18 the paper would be raising its newsstand prices from $1.25 to $1.50.

Newsstand price hikes are all the rage these days, it seems. Just last week the WSJ announced it was upping its price by fifty cents, and this past May the NYPost doubled its price. We're not schooled in the background economics of these decisions, however, is it really a good idea to make something that less people want that much harder to get?