Debt clock

A debt clock is a public counter, which displays the government debt (also known as public debt or national debt) of a public corporation, usually of a state, and which visualizes the progression through an update every second. Because of the mirror-image correlation between liabilities and accounts receivable meanwhile there are assets clocks or property clocks also, which visualize the private and state assets. Clocks to display the national interest charge are called interest clocks.

The debt clock strikingly shows the dynamics of the state's debt growth. In this connection private debts and the growth of the monetary assets of the creditors are disregarded. The debt clock, besides showing the actual new indebtedness of the state through investment credits from government bonds, as well shows the effect out of interest and compound interest ("interest on interest") and the swelling of state indebtedness coming from the interest payable.

Many countries and cities have public debt clocks installed.

The missing confrontation of the growing assets and the increasing debts is criticised i.a. on the part of the unions. In this context an assets clock or property clock displaying the rising assets is encouraged.

Senior economist of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Heiner Flassbeck, in February 2007 criticised the bias and striking impact of the debt clock. He suggested to put a clock aside with a display of the private assets/property and its growth to enable the judgement of the debts against the background of present property values and assets. Meanwhile property- or richness clocks in several variants were published.

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