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The co-chief investment officer of hedge fund Bridgewater Associates, Ray Dalio, is issuing a warning on the US amid the ballooning national debt.
In a new Fox Business interview, Dalio says the US will face an economic catastrophe in a few years unless steps are taken to reduce the national debt, which is now hovering above $36 trillion.
“If you don’t do that [enforce the debt-reduction measures], and we probably will not do that, it is like the plaque building in the heart. And so we are now not going to have not only more debt and more debt service encroaching on our spending, but it’s also going to mean that we are going to have a supply-demand problem. And this is a heart attack, like an economic heart attack. I would guess it’s about three years, give or take…”
According to Dalio, the US has previously managed to successfully extricate itself from a fiscal situation like the one it is currently in, but to do so again would require sacrifices from everyone.
“We are at a juncture right now that if we can, soon, very soon, while the economy is still good, cut the deficit to 3% of GDP. Which is possible… you only have to change a couple of things by… change spending by 4%, change tax income by 4%. Then you have a lower interest rate as a result. This is possible. It was done between 1991 and 1998, that balance. Everybody gives a little bit. There’s a possibility of being able to get it [deficit] down to 3%.”
