In an interview with The New York Times podcast "Interesting Times," Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio offered a pessimistic outlook on the future of the United States. He believes that multiple structural problems are compounding and could trigger severe upheaval and reshape the face of society in the coming years.

In his view,The massive U.S. fiscal deficit, the widening wealth gap, and the deepening partisan divide are important internal factors contributing to instability.at the same time,Changes in the global geopolitical landscape and the impact of artificial intelligence will further amplify this trend.

He described a scenario where the United States could fall into a financial crisis due to excessive borrowing and money printing. He saw worrying signs that the US economy was heading towards a period of "disorder," characterized by widening deficits, rising inflation, and waning confidence in the US financial empire. Dalio stated:

“A financial crisis means that spending power will be very limited. You will be severely constrained. As demand cannot meet supply, interest rates will rise, thereby inhibiting lending, damaging markets, and so on.”

According to data from the U.S. Treasury Department, U.S. spending reached $7 trillion in the last fiscal year, while government revenue was $5.2 trillion.

Dalio stated that historically, higher deficits have often led to economic "problems." He pointed out that governments tend to print more money to cover spending, but this leads to currency devaluation and rising inflation. The end result could be..."Stagflationary environment"Dalio said this is the worst-case scenario for financial markets – high inflation but weak growth.

Dalio stated frankly on the show:

"Over the next five years, all these forces will come together and bring about tremendous changes. After that, everything will be almost unrecognizable. The situation will be very different; it will be a period of great change and violent upheaval."

Based on this, he judged that the social structure and operation of the United States may undergo profound changes.

Regarding domestic politics in the United States, he expressed concerns about the upcoming election cycle. Dalio stated:

“We are approaching the midterm elections, and I think the Republicans are very likely to lose the House of Representatives. I think that from then on, political and social conflicts will intensify during this period, especially between that election and the 2028 presidential election.”

He also pointed out that the existing social and political system in the United States is under pressure and is uneasy about the risk of potential violence.

When discussing the international situation, Dalio believes that the rules-based international order of the past has collapsed. In his view,The trajectory of the US-Iran conflict is decisive and can be defined in a near black-and-white way: who will control the Strait of Hormuz and who will control nuclear materials.

In terms of investment strategy,He suggested reducing risk through diversification and proposed allocating 5% to 15% of assets to gold.He explained that, based on historical experience, during similar periods of turmoil, various fiat currencies tend to depreciate, while the price of gold tends to rise.

Dalio has long championed the importance of gold as a hedge against economic turmoil and warned his followers to be wary of currency devaluation trades. His core argument is that higher deficits and hotter inflation will weaken currencies, making precious metals like gold a more attractive store of wealth.

Dalio stated that, ultimately, the turmoil facing the global economy may mean that no single currency is a stable store of wealth. Last year, he pointed out that the rapid rise in gold prices was one of the signs that fiat currencies had already depreciated.

De-dollarization—the trend of countries reducing their use of the US dollar—has been rejected by many economists in recent years. However, Dalio argues that the world monetary order is likely to change over time, pointing to how the pound sterling lost its status as the world's reserve currency in the mid-20th century.

He pointed out the similarities to the current war with Iran, which has the potential to damage confidence in the United States as an economic and political superpower. Concerns, in particular, about inflation have intensified with rising oil prices.

Dalio said, "We don't know much about what the world will look like in three to five years. We don't know much more than we do. I think what we do know is that we are in an era of increasing disorder, and that is a bigger risk."

Despite increasing discussions about currency devaluation in the market, investment inflows into the United States have continued to accelerate in recent years, and demand for U.S. Treasury bonds has remained strong. These two signs indicate that the U.S. dollar remains the dominant force in the financial markets.

On the same day, Marc Rowan, CEO of Apollo Global Management, also issued a warning about global trends. He pointed out that a..."Large-scale geopolitical restructuring"This is happening now, and the result will be "the rise of the blue-collar class and the pressure on the white-collar class".