Here are the newest National Debt Statistics as of April 9, 2009:
Held by Public:
$6,892,835,801,149.21
Intragovernmental Holdings:
$4,276,630,578,859.11
Total Debt:
$11,169,466,380,008.32
Gifts to reduce the public debt:
February 2009: $31,067.03
Fiscal Year 2009:
$2,232,641.09
Fiscal Year 2008 (comparison):
$2,189,358.89
Increase in Debt during FY2009:
$1,144,741,483,095.83
Increase in National Debt since 'HOPE and CHANGE' of Obama Adminstration began:
$542,589,331.095.24
($6,868,219,380.95 per day rate of increase)
Friday, April 10, 2009
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Communities print their own currency to keep cash flowing
By Marisol Bello, USA TODAY
A small but growing number of cash-strapped communities are printing their own money.
Borrowing from a Depression-era idea, they are aiming to help consumers make ends meet and support struggling local businesses.
The systems generally work like this: Businesses and individuals form a network to print currency. Shoppers buy it at a discount — say, 95 cents for $1 value — and spend the full value at stores that accept the currency.
Workers with dwindling wages are paying for groceries, yoga classes and fuel with Detroit Cheers, Ithaca Hours in New York, Plenty in North Carolina or BerkShares in Massachusetts.
Ed Collom, a University of Southern Maine sociologist who has studied local currencies, says they encourage people to buy locally. Merchants, hurting because customers have cut back on spending, benefit as consumers spend the local cash.
A small but growing number of cash-strapped communities are printing their own money.
Borrowing from a Depression-era idea, they are aiming to help consumers make ends meet and support struggling local businesses.
The systems generally work like this: Businesses and individuals form a network to print currency. Shoppers buy it at a discount — say, 95 cents for $1 value — and spend the full value at stores that accept the currency.
Workers with dwindling wages are paying for groceries, yoga classes and fuel with Detroit Cheers, Ithaca Hours in New York, Plenty in North Carolina or BerkShares in Massachusetts.
Ed Collom, a University of Southern Maine sociologist who has studied local currencies, says they encourage people to buy locally. Merchants, hurting because customers have cut back on spending, benefit as consumers spend the local cash.
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