What happens when a country mismanages its debt? In 1990, Japanese policymakers decided to deal with its debt obligations by printing a lot of money to buy bonds. They further devalued the currency by giving bondholders significantly lower interest rates than in the US. As a result, Japanese bonds lost 45% relative to US bonds and 60% relative to gold over the next few years. That had a real impact on the average Japanese worker, who lost a significant amount of buying power — and those impacts are still felt today. My new book, How Countries Go Broke: The Big Cycle, breaks it all down for you. #raydalio #principles #politics #economics