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host, I agree that it is more complicated than a direct pass through of corporate costs to corporate prices to consumers and sometimes there will be a Walmart to buck the trend to gain market share. However I do think that higher corporate costs on any given product sector (as long as their costs go up together) will eventually result in higher prices for consumers. Perhaps a given market sector will be willing to squeeze their profit margins down for a while but eventually they will pass these costs on to consumers.
I have taken the position in other tax discussions on this board that I believe this results in the poor and middle class paying a much higher percentage of their income to support our government because of these taxes and regulation costs being passed down to them via higher prices. The less you make, the higher percentage of your income it takes. I have little doubt that if we passed legislation to make it more expensive to generate electricity for example then electric bills are going to go up accordingly as well as the cost of food, clothing etc.. and goods from any industry that uses electricity.
I heat my house with propane. The cost has gone up from about $125 a month to about $300 per month in the last 4 years. I do not believe that putting an excess profit tax on these suppliers would lower my cost and most likely cause them to rise.
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