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The National Debt Clock is a billboard-sized running total display which constantly updates to show the current United States gross national debt and each American family's share of the debt. It is currently installed on Sixth Avenue in Manhattan, New York City. It was the first debt clock installed. The idea for the clock came from New York real estate developer Seymour Durst, who wanted to highlight the rising national debt. In 1989, he sponsored the installation of the first clock, which was originally placed on Sixth Avenue—between 42nd Street and 43rd Street—one block away from Times Square. At the time, the national debt remained under $3 trillion but was rising. The clock was temporarily switched off from 2000 to 2002 due to the debt actually falling during that period. In 2004, the original clock was dismantled and replaced by the current clock at the new location one block away. In 2008, the U.S. national debt exceeded $10 trillion for the first time, leading to press reports that the clock had run out of digits.〔〔〔〔 The original clock outlived Seymour, who died in 1995, with Seymour's son Douglas taking over responsibility for the clock through the Durst Organization. As of September 2009, Douglas Durst's cousin Jonathan "Jody" Durst, with whom he currently shares a co-presidency of the company, is in the process of taking over the day-to-day operations as president. In an interview with ''The New York Times'', Jonathan Durst has said that maintenance of the clock is planned "for years to come." ==History== Invented and sponsored by New York real estate developer Seymour Durst, the National Debt Clock was installed in 1989. After Seymour's death in 1995, his son Douglas Durst became president of the Durst Organization, which owns and maintains the clock. Douglas Durst has stated that the clock represents a non-partisan effort and explained the motivation behind the project in terms of intergenerational equity: "We're a family business. We think generationally, and we don't want to see the next generation crippled by this burden."〔 According to Douglas, his father had been toying with the basic idea of drawing attention to the growing national debt since at least 1980, when during the holiday season he sent cards that said "Happy New Year. Your share of the national debt is $35,000" to senators and congressmen. In the early eighties, when Seymour first developed the idea of a constantly updated clock, the technology required to implement the project was not yet available.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「National Debt Clock」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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