Excel Add-ins
Add-ins are special files that provide additional functionality. After downloading an add-in file, the Add-ins Manager must be used to install it. Add-ins files have extension .xla or .xlam (for Excel 2007 and newer).
Currently Available:
Econ Chart Enhancer
Downloading FRED data directly into Excel. Extract the Add-In folder (Fred) on to your computer. You should not move this folder after you install the Add-In. Open a blank Excel workbook and choose Tools from the top toolbar. Choose Add-Ins from the dropdown menu. A pop-up window will appear. To enable or disable Excel add-ins, from Manage, select Excel Add-ins, then click Go and then perform a task: To enable add-ins, ensure that the check box next to the add-in is checked. If the check box next to the add-in is cleared, then click the check box to select it, and then click OK.
Installing Fred Add On In Excel
Click Insert Get Add-ins. In the Office Add-ins box, browse for the add-in you want, or search for an add-in by using the Search box. Click an add-in to read more about it, including a longer description and customer reviews, if available. Then, click Add, Try, or Buy for the add-in you want. This is one of those things that you only find out by accident - there is very little on Google about this. If you rename any Excel file to.ZIP instead of.XLSX or XLSM then you can open it using your favourite zip program. The excel file is divided into folders and differnt XML files. Microsoft Power Query for Excel is an Excel add-in that enhances the self-service Business Intelligence experience in Excel by simplifying data discovery, access and collaboration. (Note: The Microsoft Power Query add-in for Excel 2010/2013 is no longer being updated by Microsoft.
Description and Installation
The Econ Chart Enhancer add-in has options for various tweaks to an existing chart, including adding shaded bars (for recessions), using a natural log scale, and fitting an exponential growth curve. While a knowledgeable Excel user could do these things on her own, this add-in saves a lot of tedious work.
The Econ Chart Enhancer add-in will be regularly updated here with new recession dates. The current version was last updated in June 2015.
Here is a short video on how to install it (after clicking above to download it):
If you have any trouble, visit the Help page.
Scenario Comparative Statics
Description and Use
Fred Add In For Excel
The Scenario Comparative Statics add-in creates scenarios for user-specified values of an exogenous variable and the corresponding solutions, displaying the results in a new sheet. It works with sheets that have analytical, reduced-form solutions entered as formulas for endogenous variables or using Excel's Solver to find the solution for each given value of the exogenous variable.
If you do not know how to install an add-in, view the video above. Here is a short video on how to use the Scenario Comparative Statics add-in:
Here is the Excel workbook used in the screencast (without the scenarios): ScenCSVideo.xlsx.
FRED Excel Add-in
This add-in is freely available and produced by the St. Louis Fed as a convenient interface for accessing Fed data directly from Excel. There are many tens of thousands (and growing) US and international time series from various sources (e.g., BEA, BLS, Census, and OECD). Download the add-in from here:
For printed documentation (including a quick start guide), see research.stlouisfed.org/fred-addin/FRED_PC_Users_Guide.pdf.
Fred Add In Excel 2016
FRED also has apps for phones and tablets. (Brilliant!)
Installing Fred Add On In Excel Spreadsheet
Installing Fred Add On In Excellent
Housing.xls is an Excel workbook that shows how to use the FRED add-in. The screencast (also included in the Excel workbook) is here: