Spreadsheets in the Economics Classroom

Abstract

The use of personal computers in general, and the electronic spreadsheet in particular, in economic education has spread rather slowly, hardly commensurate with its significance as a major new device in the economist's tool box. From the very beginning of the science the spreadsheet, in the form of simple arithmetic table, has served the economist as means for formulating and analyzing theoretical concepts. «Electroniution" of the spreadsheet has transformed it into an enormously powerful engine of analysis. This paper examines some of the advantages of using the spreadsheet in economics, and notes some of the factors that have hampered a more rapid development of interest in this area. (ZlO)