(3 min)

The Perfect Storm: An extremely bad situation in which many bad things happen at the same time.

Five threatening forces

Billionaire Ray Dalio, founder of the hedge fund Bridgewater Associates, warned in an interview (Apr. 13/25) on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” about tariffs, growing debt and looming economic and political realities forming into the “perfect storm.” It’s not doom and gloom, yet, but it sure as hell is serious.

The Meet the Press interview (9:00) and article (2 min) are well worth your time.

Dalio identifies five macro factors and points out that the world order that has been the foundation of economic, trade and democracy since 1945 is now exposed to Trump’s whims and winds (I add his deep psychosis) and could sink if this perfect storm is allowed to form.
  1. Money, debt, credit crisis
  2. Political division and dysfunction
  3. Global loss of international trade and world order
  4. Technological disruption
  5. Acts of nature

In addition to these foundational factors, Dalio points out how these forces have repeated across history (i.e., 1930s depression, 2008 financial crisis). Importantly, he emphasizes the key to avoiding catastrophic damage is in knowing how to navigate the storm and deeply understanding the process needed to get through it.

“I’m worried about something worse than a recession.” – Ray Dalio

Read Donny, read …
His new book, How Countries Go Broke: The Big Cycle will be published June 3, 2025 – hopefully not too late to be read by Donald-I-don’t-read and his sycophantic, so-called economic advisers (Navarro, Moore, Lutnick, Bessent, and Laura Loomer – yes, he is advised by this looney-tune). The book addresses the decades-long problem of debt, you know, the one that the ever-changing, solve-nothing political parties kick down the road. Now Trump has not only bulldozed the problem further down the road, he’s buried it in a ditch of uncertainty, instability, confusion, ignorance, and even more debt – perhaps irretrievable.
Dalio proffers an economic model and straightforward solutions but for now, we are at the mercy of Captain Orange and his pirates.
This is no joke

Captain Long John Moron

Any good sailor knows never to go to sea with a Captain who doesn’t read weather reports, has never looked at a navigational chart, doesn’t know port from starboard, left from right, up from down and yet thinks he can negotiate with the mother of all storms. Economic hurricanes don’t make deals. They’re unpredictable. Uncontrollable. Unknown – a little like China and much of the world.

Any captain worth his or her salt knows to plan for the worse and hope for the best, and ensure there’s no danger from icebergs. Pretty straightforward, unless your captain is a reckless, craven, plundering pirate who doesn’t give a shit about anything other than feeding his narcissism and greed by terrorizing the high seas (from Panama to Greenland to islands of penguins).

If he doesn’t know economics, doesn’t understand human nature, and thinks he can change hurricane forecasts with a Sharpie pen (see video), then the crew and passengers aboard the Good Ship America are in peril.

Captain Orange (circa 2019) changes hurricane report with a Sharpie (video 0:43)

This is not fiction

Most of us saw the movie, some of us read the book, but few of us are ready for this! Today’s reality is far worse than the book or movie.

Pick any seafaring tragedy, fiction or non-fiction (Titanic, Moby Dick, Bismarck, Lusitania, Edmund Fitzgerald, Spanish Armada, Andrea Gail) and realize what we could be in for. It’s a time to batten down the hatches, grab a life jacket, count the lifeboats. Or mutiny!

In preparation, maybe read the book, watch the movie or study the history of Mutiny on the Bounty (1789). Because it will take a strong leader like Lieutenant Fletcher Christian and many crew members to pull it off. Unfortunately, they’re MIA on the USS Trump, all hunkered below deck, fearing the fury of the storm. Shameful.

“All hands on deck”

Something has to happen.

Forget the calm before the storm, we need all hands on deck, brave citizens ready to stand up to the cowards and bullies. We need a mutiny. Because back in the 18th century Captain William Bligh was not near the danger to the world as our epistemologically bankrupt Captain Orange.