Debt Clock Tools

How do you get a group of students to care about the national debt, when even adults struggle with this? I believe that we have to provide multiple means of representing the material. Brain research has shown us that our learning styles are as different as our finger prints. If this is true, then the way that we perceive information is different.

The Debt Clock has been a very popular topic, due to the recent events in our government. You see it mentioned everywhere. Everyone in education has been sharing the US National Debt Clock website, which is an excellent source. The US Debt Clock breaks things down into different areas that will interest your students. If you haven't taken a look at this, I would!


However, let me share with you a tool that will help you break down the global financial crisis that we are experiencing. The debacle in Greece has shown us that economic issues are global.

The Economist:

The Economist has an excellent interactive site, which compares debt across the globe. It allows you to compare each country's debt, breaking things down according to public debt, public debt per person, the population, and the total annual debt change.


On the site, there is a color coded map, comparing and contrasting the debt of each country in a visual format. You can choose individual countries to analyze or compare and contrast up to 3 different countries. The timeline feature can also look at trends and debt across the globe per year.