  The statistics of the light emitted by two-level lasers is evaluated on the
basis of generalized rate equations. According to that approach, all
fluctuations are interpreted as being caused by the jumps that occur in active
and detecting atoms. The intra-cavity Fano factor and the photo-current
spectral density are obtained analytically for Poissonian and quiet pumps. The
algebra is simple and the formulas hold for small as well as large pumping
rates. Lasers exhibit excess noise at low pumping levels.
