Ray Dalio Warns of a Shifting Global Order Amid Trade and Debt Imbalances

Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, has issued a sobering assessment of the current global economic and political environment.

Ray Dalio, the billionaire founder of investment firm Bridgewater Associates, has issued a stark warning about a coming "big change in the world order."

In a recent post on LinkedIn, Dalio highlighted several key imbalances and trends that he believes are converging to drive a major realignment in the global economic and political landscape.

These shifts, ranging from unsustainable trade and capital imbalances to rising deglobalization and deteriorating relations between major powers, will have profound implications for investors, policymakers, and citizens around the world.

What Is Happening to The Global Economic Order?

Many exporters and importers are cutting back on their U.S. ties. They realize that the tariff disputes and broader tensions are unlikely to fully resolve.

Also, both U.S. and Chinese companies and investors, and those who rely on their trade relations, are making other plans to reduce interdependence.

This trend, which began with U.S.-China relations, is now affecting other global markets, capital flows, and even military alliances.

It's also becoming clear that the U.S. role as the world’s largest consumer of goods and issuer of debt is increasingly viewed as unsustainable.

The thinking that the U.S. will pay back its debt in an assumed-stable dollar is “simpleminded and flawed.”

As these imbalances worsen and deglobalization proceeds, the risks of financial and political disruption will grow.

We are approaching a point of no return in the global monetary system, domestic politics, and international relations.

Other countries are preparing by forging new economic and political links.

What Happens Next

With calm, analytical policymaking, these transitions can be managed constructively. We need cooperative rebalancing strategies, like the “3-Part, 3-Percent Solution” that I described in my book, How Countries Go Broke.

But the current path of conflict and volatility will lead to irreversible consequences.

Investors and policymakers should focus on these underlying shifts, not short-term market moves. They need thoughtful, coordinated responses to these historic changes.