Teaching Comparative Statics with Microsoft Excel

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Update

9 June 2010

The material below and on this web site was originally created in 2000 and published in The Journal of Economic Education Volume 32, Number 4 / Fall 2001 Pages: 397 - 397.

The web site was originally located at Wabash College, but I have since moved to DePauw University. I have upgraded the CSWiz software as Excel has evolved. The basic code remains the same, but it is now compatible with all versions of Solver up to Excel 2010. Some of the materials below are dated, but the examples and explanation are still valid, thus I am leaving this web site as originally written, following the demarcation line below.

You should use only the latest version of the Comparative Statics Wizard, available here: CSWiz.xla

For detailed instructions on installation and use for versions of Excel from 97 to 2010, download this zip file and extract the four files in it: CSWiz.zip

 


 

Original JEE Web Site Starts Here

 

The materials on this site are centered around a Microsoft Excel add-in called the Comparative Statics Wizard. The CS Wiz works with Excel's Solver to repeatedly resolve an optimization problem or equilibrium model for different values of an exogenous variable, ceteris paribus. The results are presented in a well-organized sheet where additional calculations (e.g., slope or elasticity) and graphs are easily generated.

Once installed, use the CS Wiz add-in on your own optimization problems and equilibrium models within Excel. Submit your outstanding examples so others can improve the teaching and learning of economics.

Description and Rationale

More detail on what the CS Wiz does and how it can be used.

Download and Installation

Complete instructions on how to access the CSWiz add-in.

Examples

A few applications to get you started, from the routine demand curve and profit maximization applications to a Baumol-Tobin Cash Management Model and the Lifeguard Problem.

 

Contact the Author

Humberto Barreto

Department of Economics

Wabash College

Crawfordsville, IN 47933

 

Email: barretoh@wabash.edu

Phone: 765.361.6315

FAX: 765.361.6277

 

[Description and Rationale] [Download and Installation] [Examples]