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ardengyle's review
5.0
subject//*****
With technology's ability to shrink vast physical distance in the world, it behooves us to be cognizant of the world around us.
style//*****
Dalio's ability to systematically address and simplify some dense and sometimes dry material into easily comprehensible material is a feat in itself.
His unwavering honesty at confronting some uncomfortable possibilities is commendable.
spark//*****
This book articulated many observations I've had and also elucidated others that have generated some interesting conversations.
I hope it does the same for you.
With technology's ability to shrink vast physical distance in the world, it behooves us to be cognizant of the world around us.
style//*****
Dalio's ability to systematically address and simplify some dense and sometimes dry material into easily comprehensible material is a feat in itself.
His unwavering honesty at confronting some uncomfortable possibilities is commendable.
spark//*****
This book articulated many observations I've had and also elucidated others that have generated some interesting conversations.
I hope it does the same for you.
kraxis's review
5.0
Fantastic book. This is a must read for those interested in history and political economy and should be a part of anyone's Economics or History 101 life journey. Having studied history in school the economic aspects, after having read this book, have been underappreciated and underexplored in how they interact with and influence the path of how nations and their societies have developed.
Ray Dalio brings his financial and investing expertise to this topic and has changed how history should be examined in future, while also clearly establishing a framework to examine our current world and setup an early warning system to avert decline.
Dalio establishes clear criteria to guard against decline, hopefully we listen and act before it is too late.
Ray Dalio brings his financial and investing expertise to this topic and has changed how history should be examined in future, while also clearly establishing a framework to examine our current world and setup an early warning system to avert decline.
Dalio establishes clear criteria to guard against decline, hopefully we listen and act before it is too late.
ninabina's review
4.0
A bit repetitive, but overall the book presents a interesting set of theories that are well fleshed out.
Ultimately the book is about the past cycles that humanity and empires have gone through. While there are innumerable factors that influence these histories and will influence the future, I believe it is helpful to have a template for how things might go in the future. Dalio provides this template by using historical data to formulate theories about important cycles and determinants of a country’s power.
I appreciate that Dalio consistently states his theories are and will continue to change as more data is collected. The book is no crystal ball, but it is a fascinating and compelling look at the world as it was, currently is, and could be.
Ultimately the book is about the past cycles that humanity and empires have gone through. While there are innumerable factors that influence these histories and will influence the future, I believe it is helpful to have a template for how things might go in the future. Dalio provides this template by using historical data to formulate theories about important cycles and determinants of a country’s power.
I appreciate that Dalio consistently states his theories are and will continue to change as more data is collected. The book is no crystal ball, but it is a fascinating and compelling look at the world as it was, currently is, and could be.
xispo's review
5.0
Should be required reading for all high schoolers.
I read this at the recommendation of a friend who is in finance, so I was initially skeptical going into it. I figured that a capitalist hammer is always going to see things in a way that is a bit skewed from my own perspective. Not that there's anything wrong with different perspectives, but I'm a bit weary of the whole American capitalism/exceptionalism thing.
As I read more, I was pleasantly surprised and found Ray's approach to be refreshing and even reassuring. Much like nature, there is a rhythm to the rise and fall of global powers and Dalio's 1000 foot/year-view is something that isn't generally seen or thought of outside of academia.
At least here in the US. It seems China, having millenia of historical perspective that is actually considered by their rulers/politicians, eschews the more myopic view of things. This is perhaps one reason for their remarkable accent in recent decades.
If you think America is pretty fucked up, this book actually makes you feel a little better in that it has a generally positive/optimistic view of humans' ability to overcome adversity and a pragmatic summary of how things got to where they are with two solid examples of how it has happened in the past.
To be clear, it's much more of a high-level survey of the historical rise and falls of powers; it does not offer solutions to the problems currently existing in the world. Just as the tides change and we revolve around the sun, global dynamics will always shift such that a country/entity in power will be eclipsed by another. It's time the US realizes the sun is setting and makes some decent preparations for the inevitable. Highly unlikely to happen, but dare to dream.
I read this at the recommendation of a friend who is in finance, so I was initially skeptical going into it. I figured that a capitalist hammer is always going to see things in a way that is a bit skewed from my own perspective. Not that there's anything wrong with different perspectives, but I'm a bit weary of the whole American capitalism/exceptionalism thing.
As I read more, I was pleasantly surprised and found Ray's approach to be refreshing and even reassuring. Much like nature, there is a rhythm to the rise and fall of global powers and Dalio's 1000 foot/year-view is something that isn't generally seen or thought of outside of academia.
At least here in the US. It seems China, having millenia of historical perspective that is actually considered by their rulers/politicians, eschews the more myopic view of things. This is perhaps one reason for their remarkable accent in recent decades.
If you think America is pretty fucked up, this book actually makes you feel a little better in that it has a generally positive/optimistic view of humans' ability to overcome adversity and a pragmatic summary of how things got to where they are with two solid examples of how it has happened in the past.
To be clear, it's much more of a high-level survey of the historical rise and falls of powers; it does not offer solutions to the problems currently existing in the world. Just as the tides change and we revolve around the sun, global dynamics will always shift such that a country/entity in power will be eclipsed by another. It's time the US realizes the sun is setting and makes some decent preparations for the inevitable. Highly unlikely to happen, but dare to dream.
richardiporter's review
4.0
Who should read it: If you think about national power, politics, economics, history and things like this you should consider giving this a read.
I enjoyed the book, I appreciated the stated humility combined with ambitious scale and scope of identifying causes and effects, principles regarding them, and using them to broadly forecast the future.
The downside risk mitigation played into particular passions of mine but leaves the reader to build their own tactical playbook.
-Political organizing for power and wealth sharing without violence?
- Political calls on representatives to avoid war unless ther eis no option, ESPECIALLY with a rising power that may become the next domininant empire like China?
- Cultivate an ability to personally move across borders, to LEGALLY stash assets in multiple legal jurisdictions and establish good reasons to be there, to diversify your wealth as much as you can, to diversify where you can live as much as you can
These seem to be logical extensions but Dalio chose to not be prescriptive with advice merely descriptive of cycles, metrics and methods of observing cyclical behavior in markets, politics, power, currency and the like.
Unless you are a big investor or a government official or in charge of policy for a massive multinational or just personally interested in this stuff from historical or present day perspectives the above 3 points and paying occasional attention to the news of trouble between the US and China could save you the read time.
I may refer back to pages from this book in the future and suggest it to others, I likely wont read it all again.
I enjoyed the book, I appreciated the stated humility combined with ambitious scale and scope of identifying causes and effects, principles regarding them, and using them to broadly forecast the future.
The downside risk mitigation played into particular passions of mine but leaves the reader to build their own tactical playbook.
-Political organizing for power and wealth sharing without violence?
- Political calls on representatives to avoid war unless ther eis no option, ESPECIALLY with a rising power that may become the next domininant empire like China?
- Cultivate an ability to personally move across borders, to LEGALLY stash assets in multiple legal jurisdictions and establish good reasons to be there, to diversify your wealth as much as you can, to diversify where you can live as much as you can
These seem to be logical extensions but Dalio chose to not be prescriptive with advice merely descriptive of cycles, metrics and methods of observing cyclical behavior in markets, politics, power, currency and the like.
Unless you are a big investor or a government official or in charge of policy for a massive multinational or just personally interested in this stuff from historical or present day perspectives the above 3 points and paying occasional attention to the news of trouble between the US and China could save you the read time.
I may refer back to pages from this book in the future and suggest it to others, I likely wont read it all again.