Whenever I go to New Orleans in winter, I have two coats: The one I walk onto the plane with in STC, and the one I wear out to Bourbon Street.

I could have left the second one home.

Festivities for the BCS Championship game are already ongoing; we saw a guy walking the hallway of the Marriott with an LSU helmet and a Sharpie looking for autographs. The hotel I'm in is missing its bartender, which is a bad deal for a bar when you've got economists in the house. I'm sitting in it, alone.

Stunning how many people I see that I know just sitting for 45 minutes in a lobby bar (the one with a bartender and ergo booze.) I guess I have been doing this for a long time. No sign of last year's comrade in crime, but it looks like most of the sports economists are here. No in-room wi-fi, so if I post about politics it will be tomorrow.

P.S. Dani Rodrik has the right idea for staying warm and for camel-jockeying. I have been about there, on a horse instead, about ten years ago. My cousin paid for someone to steer the horse. I asked about a camel, but was told it would not be a good idea.

Labels: economics