As the U.S. gears up for its next presidential election in 2024, the country needs a “strong middle” political ground and bipartisan cooperation, according to Ray Dalio, founder of investment company Bridgewater.

“If you bring the sides together in a bipartisan way, and you create a strong middle, that’s what the country needs in order to be healthy, I believe,” Dalio said Tuesday in conversation with CNBC’s Dan Murphy on stage at the Abu Dhabi Finance Week.

Two things are crucial for the U.S. in this process, Dalio said: firstly, he assesses that those with extreme political views should be alienated. Secondly, the country needs to “bring together the smart moderates to work together, and then to be able to make important reforms” to enable addressing issues such as the wealth gap.

Concerns about wealth inequality have grown in recent years and been accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the second quarter of 2023, the wealthiest 10% of U.S. households held around $7 million on average, whilst the bottom 50% had an average of $51,000, according to a report by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis released last month.