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The 2010 FOMC Laugh Track: Fed Officials Try to Joke About an Uncertain Upturn
America’s central bankers entered 2010 with a better economic environment than they faced a year earlier. But the year proved to be a struggle, leading the Federal Reserve to launch its second round of bond-buying by the end of the year. Officials still found a few opportunities to cut the tension at formal meetings of the Federal Open Market Committee. The 2010 transcripts, released Friday, noted 222 moments of laughter across 10 meetings and conference calls — down from 303 in 2009. (They’re marked by a “[Laughter]” tag in the transcripts.) As we do each year, we’ve collected some of the best and worst ... (full story)