Basic Analysis using Ravel

Figure 32 shows the result of doing this. Firstly, select just the data for "Advanced Economies" using the selector dot, and attach that to a new variable ∆ HPIAdvanced__Avg .

Figure 30: Creating a new variable containing just the data for "Advanced economies"

Then select a number of advanced economies from the axis (Australia, Canada, Denmark, etc.) using the right-click menu option “Pick axis slices”, and assigning that to another variable

∆ HPIAdvanced .

Figure 31: Selecting only advanced economies using the Pick Slices right-click context menu

This can then be subtracted from the ∆ HPIAdvanced array to give you the information you were after: how much house price inflation in each advanced economy differed from the average for all advanced economies. Attach another Ravel after the calculation, select a specific date, and choose “Sort by Value” from the context menu for the Reference Area axis.

This now returns the countries in reverse order of the difference between their national house price inflation rates and the average for all advanced economies.

Figure 33: Heavy price falls in France to Germany pulled the average down

You could do the same operation with a spreadsheet, but it would be cumbersome and difficult to document. The initial spreadsheet formula would be something like:

C2-$B2

Column B would contain the advanced economies average data, and columns C to about N would contain the data for each advanced economy. The dollar sign is there to ensure that when you replicate this formula across the array of 388 quarters and about 15 countries, the column subtracted is always that for Advanced economies.

One formula in Ravel thus takes the place of about 6,000 replicated cell formulas. Unlike spreadsheets, the formulas in Ravel are visible, self-documenting, and easy to read.