“Debtberg” (debt + iceberg) is a reference to the RMS Titanic that hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic Ocean and sank on April 15, 1912. Like an iceberg, the debt obligations of the future are often unseen, but can sink an economy.  “But that’s just the tip of the debtberg” was cited in Newsweek on February 23, 1998.
 
The term “debtberg” has been popularized since at least 2001 by George Ure on his website UrbanSurvival.com.
   
 
Urban Survival
The New Economic Reality Dictionary
Debtberg: (DEBT’-berg)  The total amount of all debt sloshing around inside an economic system.
     
23 February 1998, Newsweek, “Don’t Buy the Asian Dip”:
But that’s just the tip of the debtberg.
   
Urban Survival
February 10, 2001
We’re on the Titanic and that’s a DEBTBERG©
   
Google Groups: alt.gothic
St. Marc the Perpetually Amused
Jul 25 2002, 1:15 pm
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No good. The Debtberg is about to roll over. (See http://www.urbansurvival.com and look for articles about the Debtberg.)
   
Scoop (New Zealand)
George of Arabia: Better Kiss Your Abe ‘Goodbye’
By Greg Palast
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
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The sub-prime mortgage market implosion, hitting a dozen banks with over $100 billion in losses, is just the tip of the debt-berg.
 
The Market Oracle
World of Unreal Finance Hitting the Real Economy
Sep 28, 2008 - 03:48 PM
By: David_Chu
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And Mr. McCain is going to take over the captaincy of the U.S.S. Titanic just as it careens towards the derivatives “debt berg” straight ahead in plain sight? Enough said.
 
USA Gold
February 25, 2010—“DEBT-berg dead ahead!!!”
   
MaxKeiser.com
Global revolution against predator bankers reaches USA
Posted on February 18, 2011 by maxkeiser
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COMMENTS
Jones | February 18, 2011 at 6:42 pm |
As George Ure would say, they’ve hit the Debtberg.
   
Urban Survival
A Guide to: Black Monday?
Posted on August 8, 2011 by George Ure
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China is in the process of whacking and spanking us (video) on several fronts for our continued excessive spending, but let’s be real:  It’s been a succession of overspending congresses and presidents who stuck us in this hole, and singling out either Geithner or Bernanke should not be the talking point since the Titanic has hit the ice in the form of what I’ve written about for years:  The Debtberg.
 
Before It’s News
“Debt-berg” To Trigger The End Of The American Way Of Life…
By Josey Wales
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 10:42
Very soon I believe we’ll experience a crisis that’s bigger than the Internet bubble… the housing bubble… or the credit crisis of 2008.
 
It’s an event that I call “Debt-berg.”