People responding and downvoting don't understand "substitute != same". For people downvoting this comment, go look at the canonical examples of substitutes. Ma

People responding and downvoting don't understand "substitute != same". For people downvoting this comment, go look at the canonical examples of substitutes. Margarine and butter. McDonald's and Burger King. These are all flamewar worthy different but considered substitutes nonetheless. In fact, it goes much further than this. A consumer craving chocolate might be willing to substitute ice cream if the price is too high. In this case, maple syrup and pancakes can very much be substituted with Canadian bacon and eggs. The whole point of microeconomics is to say that the market bearing price is dictated by utility curves and you can always ask consumers "would you rather have a barrel of maple syrup or a trip around the world" and that puts a fundamental cap on prices.