Ray Dalio observed a nexus of political and economic circumstances he had never seen before. Large-scale political and social unrest within nations, particularly the US, as a result of the largest wealth, political, and value disparities in more than a century; the rise of a world power to challenge the existing world power and the existing world order; and the massive printing of money in the three major reserve currencies of the world. This convergence didn’t happen again until the years 1930 to 1945. This insight prompted Dalio to look for the recurring trends and cause-and-effect links that underlie all significant shifts in wealth and power during the last 500 years.