‘Can normal people go?’: Marshall Society angers members over extravagant Annual Dinner prices

Cambridge’s economics society, aka the Marshall Society, has somewhat pre-empted its members’ projected City salaries by setting sky-high prices for this Saturday’s Annual Dinner, “The Midas Touch.”

The event’s Facebook page was flooded with comments poking fun at both the theme and pricing, with one member proposing an alternative “Touch of Trash” event at Sesame, the sordid swap venue.

The Society initially attempted to defend the pricing – £85 for non-members and £70 for members – emphasising it is “heavily subsidising the dinner for all guests to keep it as accessible as possible” and “a non-profit event.”

Honesty didn’t quite do the trick, however: one member inquired if there will “be liquid gold to go with the diamond steak and sides of rubies and emeralds?”

Another asked for redistribution:

We’re not bankers yet

Most amusing were the accusations of David Cameron-era Oxbridge debauchery:

More like a good rogering John’s style

Part of the problem, the Marshall Society President told The Tab, is the nomenclature. Because the “Dinner” is not quite on the scale of a ball, it would be disingenuous to call it such. Yet, in terms of the quality and costs, it is not far off.

But the Committee were receptive and did concede prices could be lowered. On Sunday evening, they announced they were “delighted” to drop prices to £60 for members and £75 for non-members.

They stated: “We have been working on the Annual Dinner for many months and are convinced that it is good value for your money, and in publishing the programme [on the Facebook page] we hope that you will agree with us.”

Clearly they hired a good designer

At least one spectator agreed, posting “a note of encouragement” on the event wall. “Having worked in nonprofit spaces before and dealing with limited budgets, I totally appreciate the difficulties of the job”, she said.

Explaining the “Midas” theme, the Marshall Society said they are well aware that everything economists touch does not turn to gold.