To add on, in Meltdown Woods goes on to illustrate how true this is, providing specific examples throughout the book. Really, just think about it. How in the world could you possibly know how what the real interest rate (i.e. based on available savings) is? The point is that with “malinvestment”, projects are undertaken for which the physical resources to complete them, do not exist. But this doesn’t mean some resources don’t exist…which means some projects can be completed. This is what Tom means by “one of the lucky ones”.
Similarly, think about all the people who profited from the bubble (not even including everyone who was bailed out). Think about all the money investors made riding the bubble and getting out (or at least mostly out) before the crash. Even if they lost money on some investments, if you come out with more assets than when you went in, you did well. I know plenty of people (some just average joes) who flipped at least a few houses, made their 6 figures or more, and by the time everything started coming down, they didn’t have much invested in the market any more.
For more on ABCT, see here, as well as this link (particularly the “related forum threads” section).