Episode · Interesting Times · 2026-05-07
Books mentioned on Ray Dalio’s Theory of American Decline | Interesting Times with Ross Douthat
A stalemated war. Fractured alliances.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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The Republic
The Republic by Plato is a foundational philosophical and political treatise that explores the nature of justice, the ideal society, the human mind, and political structures.
Discussed“Plato talked about this cycle. And no. In the Republic. And he talked about the democracy and the problems with the democracy, because the people don’t vote for what is good for them.”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (1) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
Own book How Countries Go Broke
“I wrote my most recent book to explain how it works with 35 examples was called How countries go broke.”