Conan's Biggest Regret at Harvard is Greg Mankiw's Greatest Dream

For those of you who prefer to live within the comfort of Lamont or gave up on lotteries after you were rejected from all of your classes during shopping week, Conan O’Brien was on campus on Friday afternoon for a conversation with President Drew Faust in Sanders. During the hourlong conversation open to students who had won a lucky ticket, Conan revealed that he had never taken Ec10, the second-most popular class at Harvard and pride and joy of Professor Gregory Mankiw, who, coincidentally, is also the author of a reasonably priced textbook in the same field.

Conan explained, “That was a knowledge that I don’t have, and I’ve always regretted it… I wish I had taken that course.” Professor Mankiw was not present at the time as he is not expected to make his bimonthly appearance in Sanders for lecture for another couple of weeks. Yet he clearly got the memo, posting a note on his blog Saturday afternoon that warned students: “Don’t make this mistake.”

For the hundreds of lucky freshman currently enrolled in the course, feel blessed: even though you may never reach the level of success that Conan has enjoyed, you will leave Harvard with an understanding of a market economy (or at least, an understanding that you do not have an understanding of a market economy thanks to a less-than-great TF) —and really, what’s better than that?