it all adds up

The National Debt Clock has run out of digits. The electronic billboard hit its limit after U.S. public debt rose above the $10 trillion mark for the first time on Sept. 30. As a temporary fix the dollar sign has been switched to a figure--the '1' in $10 trillion. The clock is currently marking the U.S. federal government’s national debt at about $10.2 trillion. The clock, located in Times Square in New York, shows the amount of money owed by the U.S. government. It was created by the late Manhattan real estate developer Seymour Durst, who put the sign up in 1989 to call attention to what was then a $2.7 trillion debt.

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