In 1989, a New York businessman who was worried about chronic federal budget deficits erected the National Debt Clock in midtown Manhattan to keep a running tally of how much the U.S. government owes.
The total had reached $2.7 trillion, and Seymour Durst wanted "To call attention to the soaring debt and each family's share of it."
An upgrade was done so the clock could keep up as the debt rose above $19 trillion in 2016 and above $21 trillion this year.
Federal debt now equals 78 percent of gross domestic product, the highest since we had just finished fighting World War II. The CBO says that under current policies, it can be expected to "Approach 100 percent of GDP by the end of the next decade and 152 percent by 2048. That amount would be the highest in the nation's history by far."
What's wrong with running up more debt every year? It puts upward pressure on interest rates; it requires growing sums to service the debt; it pushes obligations off to future generations; and eventually, it runs the risk that the loans won't be repaid.
At some point, the debt will grow so enormous that it will endanger our immediate economic health.
The people who maintain the debt clock will always have a job.
http://reason.com/archives/2018/07/05/the-debt-clock-keeps-spinning
The total had reached $2.7 trillion, and Seymour Durst wanted "To call attention to the soaring debt and each family's share of it."
An upgrade was done so the clock could keep up as the debt rose above $19 trillion in 2016 and above $21 trillion this year.
Federal debt now equals 78 percent of gross domestic product, the highest since we had just finished fighting World War II. The CBO says that under current policies, it can be expected to "Approach 100 percent of GDP by the end of the next decade and 152 percent by 2048. That amount would be the highest in the nation's history by far."
What's wrong with running up more debt every year? It puts upward pressure on interest rates; it requires growing sums to service the debt; it pushes obligations off to future generations; and eventually, it runs the risk that the loans won't be repaid.
At some point, the debt will grow so enormous that it will endanger our immediate economic health.
The people who maintain the debt clock will always have a job.
http://reason.com/archives/2018/07/05/the-debt-clock-keeps-spinning
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