Introduction to Spreadsheets
Computerized spreadsheets are availablenearly everywhere, and they can be easily applied
to economic analysis. In fact, spreadsheets were originally developed to analyze financial
data, and they are often credited with initiating the explosivegrowth in demand for desktop
computing.
A spreadsheet is a two-dimensional table, whose cells can contain numerical val-
ues, labels, or formulas. The software automatically updates the table when an entry is
changed, and there are powerfultools for copying formulas, creating graphs, and formatting
results.THE ELEMENTSOF ASPREADSHEET
A spreadsheet is a two-dimensional table that labels the columns in alphabetical order A
to Z, AA to AZ, BA to BZ, up to IV (256 columns). The rows are numbered from 1 to
65,536. Thus acellof the spreadsheet is specifiedby its column letter and row number. For
example, A3 is the third row in column A and AA6 is the sixth row in the twenty-seventh
column. Each cell can contain a label, a numerical value, or a formula..
Alabelis any cell where the contents should be treate~ as text. Arithmetic cannot be
performed on labels. Labels are used for variable names, row and column headings, and
explanatory notes. In Excel any cell which contains more than a simple number, such as
3.14159, is treated as a label, unless it begins with an=,which is the signal for a formula.
Thus 2*3 and Bl+B2 are labels. Meaningful labels can be wider than a normal column.
One solution is to allow those cells to "wrap" text, which is one of the "alignment" options.
The table heading row (row 8) in Example A-I has turned this on by selecting row 8, right
clicking on the row, and selecting wrap text under the alignment tab.
Anumerical valueis any number. Acceptable formats for entry or display include per-
centages, currency,accounting, scientific, fractions, date, and time. In addition the number
of decimal digits, the display of $ symbols, and commas for "thousands" separators can be
adjusted. The format for cells can be changed by selecting a cell, a block of cells, a row,
a column, or the entire spreadsheet. Then right click on the selected area, and a menu that
includes "format cells" will appear. Then number formats, alignment, borders, fonts, and
patterns can be selected.554