Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER This lengthy summary begins with a Ray Dalio synopsis of Principles of Dealing with Changing World Order. A full analysis of his chapters on China follows. This book and the audiobook are meant to complement as study aids, not to replace the irreplaceable Ray Dalio’s work. “A provocative read...Few tomes coherently map such broad economic histories as well as Mr. Dalio’s. Perhaps more unusually, Mr. Dalio has managed to identify metrics from that history that can be applied to understand today.” —Andrew Ross Sorkin, The New York Times From legendary investor Ray Dalio, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Principles, who has spent half a century studying global economies and markets, Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order examines history’s most turbulent economic and political periods to reveal why the times ahead will likely be radically different from those we’ve experienced in our lifetimes—and to offer practical advice on how to navigate them well. Ray Dalio recognized a combination of political and economic situations that he had not seen before a few years ago. Huge debts and near-zero interest rates led to massive money printing in the world's three major reserve currencies; major political and social conflicts within countries, particularly the United States, due to the largest wealth, political, and values disparities in more than a century; and the rise of a world power to challenge the existing world order. Between 1930 and 1945, this confluence happened for the final time. Dalio was inspired by this discovery to look for the recurring patterns and cause-and-effect correlations that underpin all significant shifts in wealth and power over the previous 500 years. Dalio takes readers on a tour of the world's major empires, including the Dutch, British, and American empires, in this remarkable and timely addition to his Principles series, putting the "Big Cycle" that has driven the successes and failures of all the world's major countries throughout history into perspective. He unveils the timeless and universal forces for what is ahead. Humans are more likely to commit evil than good under legalism because they are only driven by self-interest and need rigorous regulations to restrain their urges.