How does transparency, a key feature of central bank design, affect the deliberationof monetary policymakers? We exploit a natural experiment in the Federal OpenMarket Committee in 1993 together with computational linguistic models (particularlyLatent Dirichlet Allocation) to measure the effect of increased transparencyon debate. Commentators have hypothesized both a beneficial discipline effect anda detrimental conformity effect. A difference-in-differences approach inspired bythe career concerns literature uncovers evidence for both effects. However, the neteffect of increased transparency appears to be a more informative deliberation process.