NYC National Debt Clock Runs Out of Digits

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NYC National Debt Clock Runs Out of Digits

AP

Story Created: Oct 10, 2008 at 1:54 PM EST

Story Updated: Oct 10, 2008 at 1:54 PM EST

NEW YORK (AP) - 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 about $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.

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