Niall Ferguson, a Harvard history
professor and noted author, apologized on Saturday for remarks
critical of economist John Maynard Keynes.
His remarks were “as stupid as they
were insensitive,” Ferguson said.
During a conference in California on
Thursday, Ferguson, 49, said that Keynes' economic philosophy was
influenced by his sexual orientation. Keynes was gay.
In response to a question about Keynes
during a question-and-answer session following a speech, Ferguson
said that Keynes, who advocated for government investment during
recessionary times, did not have a stake in the future because he had
no children.
“I should not have suggested – in
an off-the-cuff response that was not part of my presentation –
that Keynes was indifferent to the long run because he had no
children, nor that he had no children because he was gay,” he said
in a statement, the AP reported.
“It is obvious that people who do not
have children also care about future generations,” Ferguson added.
Ferguson supported the presidential
aspirations of Senator John McCain in 2008 and Mitt Romney in 2012.