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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, October 13, 2008

$10 trillion national debt outgrows clock

Associated Press

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

The National Debt Clock in New York, set up in 1989, has run out of space to record the current U.S. debt of about $10 trillion. To fit the extra "1," the digital slot for the dollar sign was modified to include the numeral. The clock will have two more digits added to it next year.

BEBETO MATTHEWS | Associated Press

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NEW YORK — In a sign of the times, the National Debt Clock in New York City has run out of digits to record the growing figure.

As a short-term fix, the digital dollar sign on the billboard-style clock near Times Square has been switched to a figure — the "1" in $10 trillion. It's marking the federal government's current debt at just under $10.2 trillion.

The Durst Organization says it plans to update the sign next year by adding two digits. That will make it capable of tracking debt up to a quadrillion dollars.

The late Manhattan real estate developer Seymour Durst put the sign up in 1989 to call attention to what was then a $2.7 trillion debt.