Was it interest in the economy, the opportunity to informally discuss a pressing issue with an accomplished professor or the allure of tea and cookies that drew eight students to Alice Cook House Professor and Dean Ross Brann's apartment Jan. 29 to hear Jonathan Kirshner, professor of government, talk about rebuilding the economy? Perhaps all three.

At last week's House Professor's Tea, Kirshner, who described himself as "very much enchanted with John Maynard Keynes," asked what the famous 20th-century economist would do to fix the current financial "mess." Blaming in part reduced regulation and lack of oversight of the financial industry under the Clinton and Bush administrations, Kirshner described the Keynesian solution to the crisis as "re-putting in place the things that were stripped away."

Kirshner emphasized the need for "a system that would accommodate control" on domestic and international capital flows to prevent market crashes. Even though most markets work well, he said, some are prone to dysfunction.

Kirshner concluded that there is "no grand magical Keynesian solution." When he opened the floor to questions, Harrison Warren '12 led off by asking if the professor believed financial crises to be "inevitable." Kirshner, a self-described pessimist, responded that "gateway speculators" will probably "blaze a trail for others," leading to eventual deregulation and recurring financial crises.

House professors' teas are one of several regularly scheduled events that allow residents of the West Campus House System to interact with Cornell faculty, visiting scholars and prominent people from many walks of life (such as Janet Reno and John Cleese in the past) in an intimate setting where real give and take can occur.

To Juliana Kleist-Mendez '12, the informality of faculty teas is the best part: in lectures, "they're the teacher and you're the student," but in the house professor's apartment, "they're sitting in a chair next to you; you're on the same level." She added that in "situations like this where the professors are excited about what they're talking about, I think you really learn a great deal."

Warren agreed, saying that he enjoys the opportunity "to sit down with professors and talk with them as someone else who's interested in the same subject."

Grace Pescatello '12 emphasized the social aspect of the tea. "Community activities like this" help students who live in the same house meet each other, she said. The houses "have so many events going on that I doubt you'll see every student at every single event," Warren added.

In the same vein, Brann described the point of the house system's many and varied events as "a smorgasbord of different students at different times in the semester going to different things."

Warren noted that the great part about house events is that they "are for such different interests," mentioning that a violinist and a chess grandmaster were among past Alice Cook House guests.

Brann ended the tea by inviting everyone back to his apartment Feb. 5 to talk with Ken McClane, Cornell's W.E.B. Dubois Professor of English, in the first event for Black History Month.

Joseph Mansky '12 is a writer intern for the Cornell Chronicle.