And here’s a tidbit for your next econ-nerd trivia night: It’s called the Beige Book because … the cover is beige. It used to be red — and for internal eyes only — until 1983 ...

The Beige Book gets its name from the color of the cover of the published report. The report was first published in 1970 and had been known then as the Red Book—also based on the color of its cover.

The Green Book is the math book ... tell what is more likely to happen by what isn’t covered under the Beige cover. If you go to the September 2007 edition, for example, you get the standard ...