Debt Clock Maxed Out

Here’s an interesting tidbit of news: The U.S. debt clock in Times Square has run out of digits.

Basically, the U.S. national debt has grown so much that the debt clock no longer has the space to accurately reflect the total debt figure.

The clock was started back in 1989 when the national debt was “only” $2.7 trillion. Nearly 20 years ago, I suppose the creators and owners of the clock never imagined we’d surpass $10 trillion in debt.

And yet here we are.

It seems to me this is yet another clarion call to action. Our day of reckoning is here. What will we do? What will YOU do?

Just like we as a nation can’t afford to spend money we don’t have on a war we don’t need — we as individuals can’t afford to spend money we don’t have on material items we don’t need.

Saw another interesting news item this morning that reports 1 in 6 U.S. homeowners are now upside down on their mortgage. In other words, they have a larger mortgage balance than the current sales value of their home.

The article states:

No longer having equity in their homes makes people feel less rich and thus less inclined to shop at the mall.

I found this amusing because home values and shopping should not normally be related. The idea that “My home is worth more, so I’ll shop more” just doesn’t compute. But I guess it is another indication of how out-of-whack American thinking has become.

It’s all about perceptions. If you FEEL rich, then you are more likely to spend gratuitously. Never mind whether you, in actuality, ARE rich. You only need that “rich feeling.” Or so they say.

What Americans really need is a good, hard lesson in accounting and business economics.

I remember when I first began accounting for all my income and expenses in my business. To this day, I dislike it. But it gave me a crash-course in the merciless world of business.

At the end of the month, you either make money or you lose money. There is no in-between. And borrowed money is NOT profit. It’s a liability that must be repaid out of future profits.

I think our financial health would be in much better condition if more people were self-employed or business owners. You can’t survive unless you understand how money really works.

So there you have it. We’ve got so much debt we can’t keep track of it anymore.

Rather than bury our heads in the sand, let’s have some accountability and start the long journey to turn things around.