The first feeling toward substitution is that it is more or less of a fraud, and that no substitute can possibly possess the merits possessed by the good it attempts to displace. Obviously, no such sweeping conclusion can be justly drawn, for until a careful comparison of the utilities yielded by two competing goods is made, no one can say which is the better either from the individual or from the social standpoint. We can conclude, however, that as between the two, all other things being equal, the cheaper is preferred.