A Steaming Pile of Larceny

This Scrutiny is about professors who have gotten into some deep shit. But one of our subjects, Monrad Professor of Economics Martin L. Weitzman, easily justifies our use of naughty language; in April 2005, he allegedly stole $600 worth of manure from a Rockport, Mass. farm, supposedly to use as fertilizer.

His August 2005 settlement with the Gloucester district court allowed him to dodge an admission of guilt, but The Crimson reported that Charles L. “Charlie” Lane Sr., the 98-year-old farmer, purportedly caught Weitzman red-handed (brown-handed?) in the middle of his craven theft, detaining him until the police arrived.

“You realize the extent to which this ‘Harvard’ thing [has] a lot of baggage attached,” Weitzman said to The Crimson last summer, responding to the local outcry over the alleged theft. “I don’t really understand what the hullabaloo was about.”

After his deeds were exposed to the light of day, Weitzman received offers for free manure; surely some kind souls wished to pre-empt his alleged evil deeds. Some people don’t mind that the prof allegedly chose the dark side over the supply side.

Weitzman is, of course, still here at Harvard, working away until the spring, when he’ll be on leave.