Examines history's most turbulent economic and political periods to reveal why the times ahead will likely be radically different from those in recent memory.

A few years ago, Dalio noticed a confluence of political and economic conditions he hadn't encountered before: huge debts and zero or near-zero interest rates that led to massive printing of money in the world's three major reserve currencies. Here Dalio brings readers along for his study of the major empires-- the Dutch, the British, and the American-- and puts into perspective the "big cycle" that drives the successes and failures of all the world's major countries through history. -- adapted from jacket.