Dalio’s current (2021) country scorecard: USA leads on empire score (0.87) but has the worst debt burden (-1.8 z-score) among major powers. China (0.75) has low debt (0.3 z-score) and is the only major power with both a strong empire score AND a clean balance sheet. India has the highest expected growth (6.3%) at a low empire score (0.27) — suggesting the largest risk-adjusted growth opportunity. Russia has low debt (1.0 z-score) but high internal conflict risk (-0.5). The US leads the empire scoreboard while simultaneously having the worst financial position — classic late-cycle configuration.