Since 1960, the United States has raised its debt ceiling 78 times -- soon to be 79, if Congress approves the latest last-minute deal. On a wall in Manhattan, not far from Times Square, a billboard-size display has kept a running tally of the national debt amount.
Since its inauguration in 1989, the National Debt Clock has ticked inexorably higher, from $2.7 trillion to more than $31 trillion today. Never before has America or the world economy been so indebted. And since 2000, the stock of global debt has soared, from $87 trillion to over $300 trillion today -- a rate nearly double the pace of world GDP growth.
Leaving aside the political theatrics, intrigue, and brinkmanship that nowadays accompany every increase in the US debt ceiling, can anything be done to stop -- or even slow -- the clock?
