Photo by Bridgewater Associates via LinkedIn

Photo by Bridgewater Associates via LinkedIn

In a series of posts on LinkedIn, Ray Dalio (MBA 1973), co-chief investment officer and co-chairman of Bridgewater Associates, has written an extensive examination of modern capitalism. “I believe that all good things taken to an extreme can be self-destructive and that everything must evolve or die,” says Dalio. “This is now true for capitalism. In this report, I show why I believe that capitalism is now not working for the majority of Americans, I diagnose why it is producing these inadequate results, and I offer some suggestions for what can be done to reform it.”

Dalio’s essay begins with a reflection on how his own personal experience led him to the conclusion that American capitalism “isn’t working well for most Americans,” which is followed by supporting evidence—including low income growth, the ascendant income gap, and educational failures. “These conditions,” Dalio writes, “pose an existential risk for the US.”

Addressing why capitalism isn’t working, Dalio notes that the system now operates “in a way in which people and companies find it profitable to have policies and make technologies that lessen their people costs, which lessens a large percentage of the population’s share of society’s resources.”

What’s to be done? Dalio suggests a series of reforms, including improved leadership from the top, more public-private partnerships to invest in “double bottom line projects,” and clear metrics for success.

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