Level I Guidance: “A Random Walk,” with Economist & Investment Icon, Burton Malkiel, PhD

PeerSpectrum | Journeys in Medicine

Today's episode is about money, specifically your money. Now, if we're going to take a break from interviewing astronauts, Navy SEAL's, NFL surgeons and cutting edge researchers to do an episode on investing, you can bet we we have a very specific reason for doing so. You can also bet we have a rare and unique guest. That guest is renowned Economist, Burton Malkiel. You can google him later but here's a quick CV highlight reel: PhD from Princeton, Harvard MBA, author of 12 books and more than 150 articles, dean of the Yale School of Management, member of the President's Council of Economic Advisers, corporate board memberships including Prudential Financial , the American Stock Exchange, and the Vanguard Group. At 86 years of age he isn't stopping and currently serves as chief investment officer at Weathfront. All very impressive you say, but what does this have to do with me? Well, Burton is also the author of one the most influential investment books of all time. First published over 45 years ago, “A Random Walk Down Wall Street,” has sold over 1.5 million copies and is now (as of Jan 2019) in its 12th edition. When it was first published in 1973, Burton called B.S. on the performance and excessive fees charged by professional money managers and other experts. He imagined a better, low cost investment tool that did not yet exist. Three years later that changed and today this simple investment tool is the vehicle of choice for 40% of the total invested stock market. Even Warren Buffet (the oracle of Omaha and one of the extremely rare few to actually outperform the market) now recommends this tool for investors. What is this tool and how did Burton Malkiel's ideas transform the financial world? How have his ideas become a sort of placebo control virtually no one can beat over the long run? How can an 86 year old economist help you avoid the time and money wasting decisions so many have, and will continue to make? Let's find out, and with that said, let's get started...