NPR. Darien, I heard you made a special trip to Times Square last week.

I did, I went very close.

I'm standing here looking up at this sign called Our National Debt.

Okay, so you picked the nerdiest sign in Times Square to look at.

Of course, I found this National Debt sign on a side street.

It was kind of hidden between two

restaurants, burger and lobster and mermaid oyster bar. Oh sounds decadent and so is

our spending I assume the number is pretty high.

It's rising up and up and up in bright yellow letters.

So what are we up to now?

Are we approaching 100% of gross domestic product.

Yeah and one measure the US government has a collection of IOUs adding up to about a

years worth of output. On that day the number was more than thirty four trillion

dollars and I asked the people passing by That number was more than $34 trillion.

And I asked the people passing by to look up at the sign and tell me what came to mind.

Wow, that's crazy.

I think it is concerning. Yeah, ceremony. A lot of money.

A lot of money facts. This is the indicator from Planet Money. I'm Waylon Wong.

And I'm Darren Woods.

Today on the show, the big number hanging over all Americans,

the federal debt.

Is it time to freak out, or is there nothing to see here? That's after the break.

...