How does increasing taxes drive up overhead? MORON. I mean you might could really push the definition of "overhead" and call taxes part of it. But taxes are paid on PROFIT, you got to have a profit before you even have to worry about income., or the corporate, tax.
And I don't know how many times I have to say this. Overhead does not have an impact on price. I mean first of all, show me how the demand curve shifts because cost go up? And I know that, in and of itself, is over your head. I mean you will buy a widget if it costs X dollars. But if it cost X + A dollars, you won't buy it. The owner's liability insurance goes up. Now he charges X + A, you know, cause his overhead went up. Do you give a shit? Demand stays the same, at a higher price point, that is a "shift" in the demand curve. Instead, demand declines because the price went up.
What about home loans. Hell, the FED increased the discount rate, the cost to banks went up. How come demand is lower for mortgages now and not the same? Why did the demand curve for mortgages not "shift"?
The reality is a company charges, and I quote a former VP of Procter and Gamble here, "Whatever the hell they can get". PERIOD. Hell, take turkeys this Thanksgiving. Cost, approaching three bucks a pound. It first appeared that grocers were going to peg them at $1.99, a far cry from the 99 cent Butterballs from last year. But still a loss. But now some yahoos are coming out with $1.79 and retailers are moving to match that. An even bigger loss.
But maybe the dumbest thing you said here is, "shareholders are consumers too". Big whoopdeshit. I mean you think my inlaws shed a tear when gas prices go up? They own more than a dozen oil wells, fracking, in Texas. When gas prices go up so does their royalty checks. The point is, when companies cannot pass on the effect of higher taxes, shareholders and owners bear the brunt, not the consumer. And Trump's corporate tax cut demonstrated that eloquently. Show me one company, one single company, that cut their price because of the corporate tax cut.