The vulnerabilities run from thousands of poorly secured short-range nuclear weapons in Russia to poorly guarded nuclear reactors or fuel storage sites in far too many states.
Private intermediaries may fill the void with cheap imitations such as asset-backed commercial paper and repurchase, or "repo", loans (a type of secured short-term funding).
As part of the takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Treasury said it would extend secured, short-term funding to the home loan banks.
The banks could live with that, but they worry about proposals to force secured short-term creditors to take an automatic loss if a bank fails.Another concern is prime brokerage, banks' financing of trading by hedge funds.
Most say they have been on training schemes and secured short-term contracts, but what they really want is a permanent position.
The club's finances have been under the spotlight for some time and earlier this year the club secured short-term loans totalling £1.5m from shareholders Sandy Easdale and George Letham.
Mike Trippitt at Oriel Securities said: "Everyone knows banks use bonds as collateral to secure short-term lending".
They constitute a big share of the collateral that banks around the world put up to secure short-term funding.
International Lease Finance, or I.L.F.C., ran into trouble securing short-term loans last year after the near-collapse of its owner, A.I.G.
A more aggressive push for reforms is needed to help secure short-term growth while improving future prospects and reducing risks.
But over the last two weeks big banks in Spain, Ireland and Italy have struggled to secure short-term funds from the United States as the anxiety has spread.
