[Elon Musk: China's purchasing power has long exceeded that of the US, and this year's car sales will exceed the total of the US and Europe.]

Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, recently issued a warning about America's future, stating that the global order is accelerating its collapse and the era of American dominance in the global economy is coming to an end. In response, Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, questioned the core view of Dalio, believing that China is currently the true global consumer dominant force.

In a lengthy post titled "Too Late: The Changes Are Coming" on social platforms, Dalio pointed out that the world is gradually moving away from dependence on the American economy and geopolitical influence. This trend is no longer speculation but a reality happening now. "The huge trade and capital imbalance is creating an unsustainable situation and brings significant risks of supply chain disruption," he wrote, mentioning that more and more multinational corporations are planning to reduce their reliance on trade with the US.

Dalio warned that the US cannot consume excessively and rely indefinitely on foreign loans. He frankly said, "The assumption that we can continue to sell goods to the US and provide loans, expecting to recover principal and interest in 'hard currency' (i.e., undervalued dollars), is naive." He called on the international community to take a "coordinated planning and implementation" approach to avoid an uncontrolled collapse of the global economy.

Musk quickly took issue with this view. In his reply, he wrote: "Correction: China far exceeds the US in the consumption of industrial finished products. This year, Chinese consumers will purchase more cars than the total of the US and Europe combined."

Dalio responded to Musk by saying, "I'm glad we can explore the truth through such exchanges. I asked Grok which country consumes the most manufactured goods, and here is the information received. Although the ways to measure manufactured goods consumption may differ, there is one point beyond dispute: the US is the largest importer of manufactured goods globally. Let's not dwell on the details; regardless of how it is measured, the US is the main consumer of imported goods, and this consumption is largely supported by borrowing. Can we agree on one core issue - that the US lacks manufacturing capacity, while government debt-driven consumption is excessive, which is a pressing problem?"

Dalio's warning is based on the premise that the US remains the center of global consumption and debt, but Musk's data completely overturns this argument. (Source: IT Home)

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1831250969162889/

Disclaimer: This article only represents the personal views of the author.