This paper examines how the American mortgage crisis is conceptualized in Spanish and British newspapers, such as El País, El Mundo or Financial Times. The author identifies three recurrent metaphors, namely THE ECONOMY IS A PATIENT (e.g. The cancer known as subprime is clearly spreading), ECONOMIC PROBLEMS ARE WEATHER PHENOMENA (e.g. […] turbulencias financieras que en el verano azotaron el mercado de crédito), and ECONOMIC PROBLEMS ARE NATURAL DISASTERS (e.g. El epicentro de estas convulsiones en los mercados se encuentra en Estados Unidos). These metaphors reveal the seriousness of this worldwide economic phenomenon and make us question the reality of the American dream. At the same time, these metaphorical representations serve to draw our attention away from the agents of the crisis.