The problem about Resale Price Maintenance is that there is always an overwhelming argument for doing away with it. Persuading a customer that he or she should pay a higher price is not an easy task. But there are downsides: free-for-all competition can lead to massive changes, restricted choice, near monopolies and market-rigging. When RPM was abandoned in the grocery trade in the sixties, it led directly to an upsurge of multiple retailing activity and the death of tens of thousands of small shops. The cynics say they deserved to die, that progress was inevitable, and they are more right than wrong. But measuring and judging these effects is often coloured by nostalgic, imperfect memories and inappropriate appraisals that shift the events out of context. We always remember that wonderful ham and cheese but seldom recall those ghastly, mud-encrusted potatoes. Books have been freed, and no doubt some authors will benefit, and some will suffer. Critics in 10 years time will regret that decision. But will they be able to measure the advantages of the charges? New generations might well prefer what has replaced books! The latest dispute about free pricing concerns non-prescriptive medicines. ASDA feels it is absurd that it must sell Anadin Paracetamol at #1.72 for 24 tablets and wants to reprice at 86p. The expected writ from Whitehall Laboratories has arrived. Forgotten in the row is that 100 OTC own label tablets of paracetamol are available at Boots for #1.35 and ASDA sells 24 for 24p! Private chemists have to make biggish margins on some products if they are to survive, we are told. They perform essential services and they would be sorely missed. Do the owners of these businesses make exorbitant salaries? Are their assistants paid more than ASDA employees? Should they be protected? And what of the highly profitable drug supplier? And why can't one product be more expensive than another as long as the customer has a choice. Now that's what we call dilemmas.