Ray Dalio on the Risky Period for Investors, Bubble Warnings, and a Coming Debt Squeeze

Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, joins The Julia La Roche Show for a special episode featuring their fireside chat from the Greenwich Economic Forum. Dalio explains the five forces he sees driving today's world: the debt cycle, internal political conflict, the breakdown of the post-1945 geopolitical order, acts of nature, and technology, especially AI. He says rising bond yields reflect a basic supply-and-demand problem. Washington spends about $7 trillion a year but takes in about $5 trillion, and foreign buyers like China and Japan are pulling back. He warns that a debt "heart attack" is likely within the next two years. He calls the period after the midterms and through 2028 especially risky, and says markets are in a bubble by his own indicators, comparing today to the tech boom before 1929. Dalio also discusses why he recommends 5–15% in gold, why he holds only about 1% in Bitcoin, and where he sees opportunity: companies being transformed by AI, ASEAN countries, Singapore, the UAE, and inflation-indexed bonds with real yields near 3%. He closes with the three things that make a country successful. A special thank you to the Greenwich Economic Forum for having me as a moderator! Visit https://www.thegeforum.com/ Thank you to The Julia La Roche Show sponsors: Augusta Precious Metals — To learn more, visit https://juliabuysgold.com/ or text “Julia" to 35052 Monetary Metals - learn more at https://www.monetary-metals.com/julia/ Links: https://www.principles.com/ https://x.com/RayDalio https://www.linkedin.com/in/raydalio/ Timestamps: 0:00 Welcome + Greenwich Economic Forum 1:03 Dalio's five forces, and the lesson of Nixon in 1971 6:20 Acts of nature, a super El Niño, and AI as a world-changing force 7:54 Is the U.S. moving from Stage 5 to Stage 6? 9:15 Why bond yields are rising: supply, demand, and $2T deficits 12:38 Is a debt "heart attack" coming? Dalio's timeline 16:18 Midterms, internal conflict, and weak expected stock returns 17:41 Are w

Added 17 Oct 2026