Billionaire investor warns of surging debt, says ‘civil war’ developing in US
Ray Dalio highlights that the U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio near 125% and deep political divisions increase risks of financial collapse or internal conflict, based on historical cycles.
- Ray Dalio, Bridgewater Associates founder, warned on Friday in a Bloomberg interview that rising debt and wealth gaps are driving a civil war of some sort developing in the United States.
- Public data show public debt is over $30 trillion, equaling about 99% of U.S. GDP last year, while Dalio highlighted the debt-to-GDP ratio at around 125%.
- Using medical metaphors, Dalio compared rising debt service to `plaque in the arteries` that squeezes spending and called the imbalance a `debt bomb`, urging tax increases and spending restraint.
- Dalio warned the debt problem could become a full-blown crisis, forcing higher interest payments or significant cutbacks as selling debt may exceed market appetite, and social friction risks people `hurt each other`.
- Dalio drew historical parallels to 1937–1938 and pre-World War II borrowing patterns, while Nassim Nicholas Taleb urged investors to hedge against a debt-driven crash.
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10 Articles


Billionaire investor Ray Dalio warns of ‘civil war’ amid spiraling US debt
Hedge fund investor compared current issues to those of 1937 or 1938, as the US steered itself out of the Great Depression and the world prepared to go to war
Bridgewater’s Ray Dalio says U.S. divisions, debt, and “wars of all kinds” are testing America’s stability—warning history shows every world order eventually resets.
Ray Dalio warned that rising U.S. debt and deepening political divisions could push the country toward crisis. In an interview this week, the Bridgewater founder said America faces a choice between uniting around shared interests or descending into destructive conflict. He cautioned that the nation’s 125% debt-to-GDP ratio risks triggering a “debt bomb” if investors lose confidence, forcing higher borrowing costs or painful spending cuts. Bridge…
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