Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio has said decades of "chronically horrendous leadership" under the Baby Boom generation has now reached an apex in the form of presidential candidates Joe Biden and Donald Trump.
Dalio, who was born in New York City in 1949, said his generation has overseen a decline in America that has led to "huge polarities in opportunities and living conditions" and resulted in the loss of the U.S.'s "economic, military, and moral leadership in the world."
The billionaire hedge fund manager blamed Baby Boomers' poor leadership for this decline, as he argued the generation born between 1946 and 1964 have overseen a breakdown of the American dream that was formed through the work of the Greatest Generation who lived through the Wall Street Crash of the 1930s and fought in World War Two.
"I was fortunate enough to have parents who were of the greatest generation, who overcame the depression, fought in the war, and gave me a strong upbringing... that allowed me to take advantage of the equal opportunities to live the American Dream," Dalio said in a post on Linkedin.
"I also saw the generation that came after the greatest generation (i.e., my generation) run up government debt, let the country's infrastructure break down, allow huge polarities in opportunities and living conditions to develop which led to pervasive economic and social inequalities, homelessness, mental illness and drug problems," he added.
Dalio said Trump and Biden are reflections of the "terribleness" of U.S. politics and he said he is now worried about America's future. Trump, who was born in 1946, is considered a Boomer, while Biden, who was born in 1942, is part of the so-called Silent Generation. The Greatest Generation were born between 1901 and 1927.
"It is surrealistically shocking to me to see the condition the United States is in, such chronically horrendous leadership that has reached an apex in terribleness that is reflected in our two presidential candidates, our representatives in Congress... They are so unimaginably worse than I ever could have thought possible," the hedge fund founder said.
Dalio said America could soon see itself fall even further stil, in the form of a breakdown of law and order and the break out of civil strife. The hedge fund founder previously said he believes there is a 35-40% chance of a U.S. civil war breaking out.
"Having experienced nearly one whole big cycle of up and down and from studying the patterns and causes of history, I worry about what might be ahead (what I call 'Stage Six of the Internal Order Cycle,' where the rule of law breaks down and there is some form of civil war)," Dalio added.
Dalio, the son of jazz musician Marino Dallolio and his wife Ann, started Bridgewater out of his New York City apartment using money from investors he knew through his work as a futures trader at Wall Street investment firm Shearson Hayden Stone.
Bridgewater Associates is currently the fourth most successful hedge fund in history, having generated gains worth $55.8 billion since it was first started in 1975, research from LCH Investments shows.
