OK, I agree - my wording was a bit off then. But I wonder if that static demand curve fully captures the scenario we are talking about. At any one point in time, you could do some testing to see how many fewer sales you would get at $10 versus $9 for a widget. But if some external event occurs that raises the overall price of all those widgets (and in the case of corporate taxes, all the alternatives too), it would seem that the demand curve would sort of reset (acclimate) closer to that new price? I guess it comes down to how those demand curves are determined.
For example, when gas was $2.50/G, I would guess the demand curve would drop off sharply at $4.00. But as the price creeps up, don't people become more accepting of the higher price? For all the groaning about $4.00 gas, I think it was single digit % reductions in consumption (still greater than any policy result). Elasticity of demand comes into play, as people don't have ready substitutes for gasoline.
At any rate (and now I really am curious how those demand curves are derived), Emeritus is still wrong that a company won't pass a tax increase onto the consumer. As others have said, they need to maximize profits, not sales. And if it is across the board, there is no change in the competitive advantage/disadvantage. If one company could take a lower profit margin to gain sales, they would have done it before the tax also.
-ERD50