The Debt Clock

If you are ever in the mood to feel overwhelmed, discouraged, and downright depressed, hail a cab to the corner of Avenue of the Americas and West 44th Street in New York City. There, you’ll find the U.S. National Debt Clock—an imposing twenty-five-foot-wide sign, weighing 1,500 pounds and glowing with 306 bulbs that relentlessly display the nation’s debt and every family’s share of it. 

The owners of the clock, put up by the real estate firm the Durst Organization, once sent a New Years card to each member of congress…