interested in understanding my template for understanding big debt crises and seeing all the cases that made it up,
you can get Principles for Navigating Big Debt Crisesin free digital form at www.economicprinciples.org or in
print form for sale in bookstores or online. It was that perspective that allowed Bridgewater to navigate the 2008
financial crisis well when others struggled. I’ve studied many big, important things (e.g., depressions,
hyperinflation, wars, balance of payments crises, etc.) by following this approach, usually because I was
compelled to understand unusual things that appeared to be germinating around me.
[2] I approach seeing just about everything this way. For example, in building and running my business, I had to
understand the realities of how people think and learn principles for dealing with these realities well, which I did
using this same approach. If you are interested in what I learned about such non-economic and non-market things,
I conveyed it in my book Principles: Life and Work, which is free in an app called “Principles in Action” available
on the Apple App Store or is for sale in the usual bookstores.
[3] In my book Principles: Life and Work, I shared my thinking about these different ways of thinking. I won’t
describe them here but will direct you there should you be interested.