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.