As noted in a Recced Diary, Papa John's CEO JOhn Schnatter threatened Vote for Romney or we'll raise our prices. Or more precisely he said:
Papa John's CEO John Schnatter says that Obamacare will result in a $0.11 to $0.14 price increase per pizza, or $0.15 to $0.20 cents per order, Pizza Marketplace, a trade publication, reports. (Hat tip: @dkberman via Twitter.)
But as anyone who has taken a basic Microeconomics 101 class can tell you, in a free market with a lot of competitors, you cannot unilaterally just raise prices, you are a "price taker".
Hooray free market!
If there is any market in America that comes close to being labeled as a "Perfect Competition" it is probably Pizza delivery. Lots and lots of buyers and sellers (strictly speaking a PERFECTly competitive market would have infinitely many buyers and sellers, purely an academic exercise), with no ability to change the price by themselves. In fact according to this Pizza Power Report 2009 there are 67,544 Pizza places, with almost 60% of them independent.
Oh yeah, competition, the free market is probably a hallmark of Mr. Schnatter's life philosophy...in theory. Now he can SAY he will raise pizza prices, and he can, but the market will tell him to fuck off. And why do this? It is very simple...
IF HE COULD HAVE RAISED PRICES HE WOULD HAVE ALREADY DONE THAT!
No good businessman leaves money on the table, because you charge what people are willing to pay. And what people are willing to pay is determined by their preferences and their options, not by your costs. They don't give a shit about your costs, they care about the product and the price.
Now if all pizza places had to raise their prices, then yes, he could do that, and in general fewer pizzas will be sold across the board. But if he tries to do it himself, then people will buy some other pizza, that costs less.
I guess what I am trying to say to John Schnatter is that you sell pizza...not great pizza (not bad, but there are better options)...and so does 67,000 other places, all more than willing to take your customers. No need for a boycott or anything, just the free market, the stuff of Republicans wet dreams.