Feeling better about Burton Malkiel

Burton Malkiel wrote one of my favorite (and a lot of other people's favorite) books on econ and investing, A Random Walk Down Wall Street. Given that, I was more than a little disappointed to hear that the following blurb appeared on the back cover of Dow 36000: The New Strategy for Profiting From the Coming Rise in the Stock Market by James K. Glassman and Kevin A. Hassett:

“Dow 36,000 is a provocative and well-written treatise that cannot be dismissed… .” — Burton G. Malkiel, Wall Street Journal

(in case you've forgotten, the 1999 book in question promised  the Dow would hit 36000 in three to five years)

With Hassett back in the news, Brad DeLong has been digging through the archives and has uncovered context for Malkiel's quote:

Dow 36,000 is a provocative and well-written treatise that cannot be dismissed as easily as many of its critics have suggested. But what is at stake here is much more important than a debate among economists. This is a book with the goal of giving investment advice. For this reason I believe Dow 36,000 is a dangerous book that may lead some investors who can ill afford the significant risks of equity investments to throw caution to the wind.