The 2002 transcripts include a stenographer’s markers for laughter in the Federal Open Market Committee meeting room. And the nation’s top economists didn’t just laugh at then-Chairman Alan Greenspan’s jokes. On the laugh track in 2002:

January 29, 2002: What the FOMC drinks during downtime

CHAIRMAN GREENSPAN. Okay, let?s recess until tomorrow morning. I understand that this room will be secure so if you?d like to leave papers here, feel free to do so. At 6:00 p.m. we will have cocktails?double martinis and the usual [laughter]?followed by a dinner during which we will honor Larry Meyer, who is still legally a Board member until January 31 at midnight eastern time! [Laughter]

January 30, 2002: As Federal Reserve Bank presidents present their regional summaries, a football rivalry on the FOMC is revealed.

St. Louis Fed President William Poole discusses a Super Bowl bet with Cathy Minehan, president of the Boston Fed. (Days later, in Super Bowl XXXVI on February 3, the New England Patriots defeated the St. Louis Rams 20-17 with a game-winning field goal in the final moments.) Joining in the discussion are Fed Governor Edward Gramlich and Chicago Fed President Michael Moskow.

CHAIRMAN GREENSPAN. President Poole.

MR. POOLE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I read the report from the First District as being rather cautious or even downbeat. I must say that the view from St. Louis is a good bit more optimistic. I tried to convince President Minehan to accept a bet yesterday on the Super Bowl. I offered her a case of Budweiser against a case of lobster, and she just wasn?t interested!
[Laughter]

MS. MINEHAN. Somehow, even I know the value of the two!

MR. POOLE. I tried to smoke out her odds, so I suggested a case of Bud against a lobster dinner, and she still wasn?t interested. Then I said ?How about against a lobster claw??
[Laughter]

MS. MINEHAN. I just got over feeling good that our New England team didn?t disgrace themselves. [Laughter]

MR. POOLE. Well, we?re a little more optimistic than that in St. Louis.

MS. MINEHAN. Ned just realized that this discussion was about football! [Laughter]

MR. GRAMLICH. I thought you were talking about the economic outlook!

MR. POOLE. Well, let me comment on some of the reports from our District. Incidentally, Wal-Mart is headquartered in our District and is doing just fine, Mr. Moskow.

MR. MOSKOW. We noticed. [Laughter]

January 30, 2002: Dallas Fed President Robert McTeer discusses the “Make Alan Greenspan proud” campaign.

CHAIRMAN GREENSPAN. President McTeer.

MR. MCTEER. Mr. Chairman, one advantage that Texas has over many other states is our billboards. We have a lot of high-quality billboards in Texas. [Laughter] I was in San Antonio last week and on the way to the Dallas-Fort Worth airport I saw a huge billboard that said ?San Antonio loves God, country, and supports free enterprise.? That?s probably the reason that Texas has done better than the rest of the country over the last eleven years! But on the way to the Dallas-Fort Worth airport to come to this meeting I saw an even better billboard. It also was very large, and it was an ad for the classified section of the Fort Worth newspaper. It said, ?Make Alan Greenspan proud. Sell something.? [Laughter] Mr. Chairman, I thought you were encouraging buying rather than selling. At any rate, we?re trying to do our part to make you proud of Texas.

November 6, 2002: Enlightenment at the Dollar Store. Cleveland Fed President Jerry Jordan tells his colleagues in about the economics lesson he learned on a recent shopping trip in Canada.

MR. JORDAN. In September I traveled to a small town that I?ve visited previously, and there were three new stores, with names I didn?t recognize, within walking distance of each other. I went into one of them and picked an item off the shelf, and there was no price label on it, so I asked the clerk how much it was. She said one dollar. So I picked up another item, a larger quantity of a similar product, and asked how much it was. And she said one dollar. I said I didn?t get it. She said everything in the store is one dollar always. I said, ?cool.? [Laughter] This is price stability. But I asked how that could be. Why would anyone buy the smaller quantity instead of the larger quantity for the same price of one dollar? Expressing some frustration with my inability to grasp basic economics, she explained the quality difference between the two but repeated that every item in the store always costs the same amount.

May 7, 2002: Dallas Fed President Robert McTeer reconfigures a joke with a friendly swipe at Texas A&M. (Two years later, he was named chancellor of the Texas A&M University System.)

CHAIRMAN GREENSPAN. President McTeer.

MR. MCTEER. Mr. Chairman, earlier you had a dialogue with Karen about what was the best way to get across the street. Since my prepared remarks are very brief this morning, let me tell you a joke about that. I heard it as a blond joke, but in deference to Cathy I?m going to change it to an Aggie joke. Aggie number one saw his buddy across the street and he yelled over, ?How do you get across the street?? Aggie number two said, ?Why do you want to know? You?re already across the street!? [Laughter]

CHAIRMAN GREENSPAN. I think next time you better lengthen your remarks!
[Laughter]

November 6, 2002: A week after Halloween in 2002, an unusual colloquialism provided the FOMC with a recurring inside joke about pumpkins. St. Louis Fed President William Poole described a contact who told him that Target and Wal-Mart were pessimistic about the retail sector.

MR. POOLE. He used an expression I hadn?t heard before, commenting ?as they say in Arkansas, not much pumpkin,? whatever that means.

That opened the floodgates for more pumpkin gags. Dallas Fed President Robert Mcteer said ?there?s not much pumpkin? in his region either. Then-govevernor Ben Bernanke was next.

MR. BERNANKE. I don?t know about pumpkins, [laughter] but while the economy hasn?t fallen down the stairs, I think it could use a push to make it up the next few steps.

March 19, 2002, Honk if you love rate cuts.

CHAIRMAN GREENSPAN. President McTeer.

MR. MCTEER. Mr. Chairman, at the last meeting I reported on Texas billboards, and I wish Jerry Jordan had alerted me that he was going to raise the issue of Texas bumper stickers today. One of my favorites is good advice for the FOMC. It says: ?Be alert. Texas needs more lerts.? [Laughter]

SPEAKER(?). I like that.

VICE CHAIRMAN MCDONOUGH. Don?t laugh. It just encourages him! [Laughter]

The Fed today released transcripts of its 2002 meetings.