How Countries Go Broke

The Big Cycle

De: Ray Dalio

Narrado por: Jeremy Bobb, Ray Dalio

“This book is a gift to humanity….Ray provides a solution to what is the biggest and most certain threat to our prosperity.”—Henry M. Paulson Jr.

“An invaluable resource for policymakers, investors, and citizens.”—Lawrence H. Summers

An urgent warning about the American economy from Ray Dalio, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Principles.

Do big government debts threaten our collective well-being? Are there limits to debt growth? Can a big, important reserve currency country like the United States really go broke—and what would that look like?

For decades, politicians, policymakers, and investors have debated these questions, but the answers have eluded them. In this groundbreaking book, Ray Dalio, one of the greatest investors of our time who anticipated the 2008 global financial crisis and the 2010-12 European debt crisis, shares for the first time his detailed explanation of what he calls the “Big Debt Cycle.” Understanding this cycle is critical for helping policymakers, investors, and the general public grasp where we are and where we are headed with the debt issue. Dalio’s model points toward surprisingly straightforward solutions for dealing with the debt problems that the US, Europe, Japan, and China face today.

How Countries Go Broke also shows how these debt problems are related to the other forces—political within countries, geopolitical between countries, natural (droughts, floods, and pandemics), and technological (most importantly, AI)—that together are causing what Dalio calls the “Overall Big Cycle” changes in the world order. By listening to this audiobook, you will improve your understanding of what’s happening now and what to do about it.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2025 Ray Dalio (P)2025 Simon & Schuster Audio

Must-read for investment professionals

Refreshing, insightful, concise. A critical read for investment professionals / money-managers. I like the repetition of key concepts, brief summary of history, and his take on what may happen in the future.

A must read

Highly recommend this book for anyone who is curious about what is going on in the world today.

Guiding light for making sense out of today’s geopolitics

I’ll have to listen to it a few times with a notebook to internalize it. It’s like a great college class. Dense and to the point with stats to help understand.

Excellent explanation to today’s global economy

Like other Ray Dalio books, he does an excellent job explaining the current economical situation and comparing to historical timelines and puts his global Macroeconomic perspective in a way that almost anyone can understand. Using events like previous world wars and technological advances shows that today is going through another economical situation.

Highly recommend to anyone that is interested in economics or wants to understand more about global economics and its impact to daily life.

A Must Read to UNDERSTAND principles and their application

The book is a very orderly view of our systems. Despite a dated input, the output is reliable in perspective.

A lesson in learning from history

Though it can get a bit repetitive, I think Mr. Dalio wants to drive home the message that cycles tend to repeat themselves. He’s taking into account the present’s political, economical and technological environment to give you a picture of where he thinks we are in the cycle and what factors to take into consideration. Though he doesn’t tell you specifically what you need to do and how to adjust your portfolios in detail, one can read between the lines and act accordingly; at least to hedge one’s positions. Great read/listen.

Pays to go with Ray

If you want to understand the big picture in our world, Ray is the man!

Big cycle

Brilliant author I liked his going back for historical sumilar times over 500 and 1500 years

Horrible narration

I listened to the preview, narrated by the author. After purchasing the audiobook, the narration shifts to a different narrator who is simply unbearable for this content. But the book content started out quite good, so I purchased the hardcover instead. For some reasons Audible won’t let me return the audio version. This is ridiculous. I am cancelling my Audible membership.

A very broad economic review

The book is a broad economic view of the U.S. and global economies debt cycles. Mr. Dalio talks quite a bit about fundamental principles and the book quickly became very repetitive, overly broad, and lacking in any specifics. Chapter 19 promised to be his final future analysis which ended up being, We are politically divided, the USA should strive for a deficit of 3% of GDP, and A.I. development and technology with not outweigh the market risk of Govt debt. the book provides no clear insights or direction and in the end, felt like someone rambling on without any clarity. Quote...If your not worried you should be, if your worried you shouldn't be....this book provides very little direction for the average investor and was overly repetitive and poorly written.