The phrase "a collective debt" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to refer to a shared obligation or liability that is owed by a group or community.
Example: "The community came together to address a collective debt that had been accumulating over the years."
Alternatives: "shared obligation" or "joint liability".
It is a collective debt: part of the problem facing some eurozone countries is that they are struggling to borrow from financial markets at affordable interest rates.
The proposal by the Council of Economic Experts to set up a collective debt redemption fund has been rejected by the German government, but its appeal lies precisely in the fact that it puts an end to the illusion of continuing national sovereignty by openly establishing the principle of collective responsibility.
The island's major chip companies, Nanya, Inotera, Powerchip Semiconductor and Winbond, bear a collective debt burden of 431 billion NT dollars ($12.9 billion) as of November 2008.
The government takes on the collective debt of associations: a cool £60bn.
The term's original meaning was broader, referring to a generation of musicians unified by their collective debt to either the musical style, or simply the independent, D.I.Y. ethos of punk rock, which in the late 1970s laid the groundwork for alternative music.
And I hope some might see it as an opportunity to discuss some big political issues: the recession, collective debt and the economy, for example.
But German officials remained adamant that there was no way they would bend on collective debt, even if the new French president, as expected, makes it a dining-room topic.
Ms. Kunin's plan would increase the collective debt carried by recent graduates.
Miguel Cardenal, the president of the Spanish Sports Council, figured last week that the collective debt of all the clubs is now beyond €4 billion.
When Germany's constitutional court signed off on the euro zone bailout fund in September, it also appeared to rule out taking on collective debt.
At the same time, Germany is likely to be asked to reconsider the issue of some type of collective debt and is likely to resist.
