Maxing Out the National Debt Clock
Are you surprised? Times Square's National Debt Clock, which has been tallying up money owed by the U.S. government since 1989, is running out of spaces.
In September 2008, the digital dollar sign was eliminated to make way for an extra digit—the "1" in $10 trillion (the national debt is currently $10.2 trillion). Now, a new clock is in the works that will make room for a quadrillion dollars of debt, according to the Associated Press. Anticipated completion is early 2009.
A little history on the clock: It was created in 1989 by Manhattan real estate developer Seymour Durst to inform the public about the nation's snowballing national debt (back then, it was $2.7 trillion). Seymour died in 1995, and the clock is now owned by his son, Douglas Durst.
According to the Treasury, the national debt has grown more than $500 billion each year since fiscal year 2003. The $700 billion government bailout could send the national debt to more than $11 trillion, says the AP.
Tags: New York City | Treasury Department | debt
Tools: 
Share
|
| Comments (166) | Print
Reader Comments
Let's keep voting the same people in to office
They are doing such a great job??????
wonderful
it makes me proud to be an American. geeze.
And they've changed the way they count debt
If you add in all the debts that used to be counted - Social Security debt to retirees, Vererans committments, etc - our debt has actually ballooned to 53 Trillion... Now that's a staggering number. I wonder why they changed the way they report it?
Add your thoughts
Your comment will be posted immediately, unless it is spam or contains profanity. For more information, please see our Comments FAQ.advertisement
