Harris Dinner

Yesterday night, the Economics department had its yearly formal dinner, the Harris Dinner. They invite all the professors and grad students, some former students, and some honors undergraduate students. They give out awards and listen to a talk from a guest speaker. Last night's speaker was a former chairman of the St. Louis Fed, and he gave a talk about financial regulation and government policy.

The attire is business formal, which means that it is one of the two or three times a year I wear a suit:

This picture shows me with almost everyone in my class. Only two of the second year Ph.D. students were not at the dinner. I am the second from the right.

Professors are allowed unlimited drinks, but students are given two drink tickets. The country club has its own wine label, so I decided to try some. The bartender did not ask me for a ticket. After the dinner, most of us went to a bar, still wearing business formal, to talk and socialize. They did not ask me to show any ID. Clearly I look older in a suit.

The country club wine was okay, and the wine bottle they bought in the bar was the only dry wine I've ever enjoyed, but I don't think I will ever really like anything other than Muscadine wine.