In a typical interest-rate swap, one party agrees to exchange a fixed-rate obligation with another that has a floating, or variable, rate exposure.

ECONOMIST: The fallout from the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers

Southern Cross, in particular, has found itself with a fixed, and increasing, rental obligation that it cannot meet.

FORBES: To Whom Do I Owe a Duty of Care?

Many countries, America included, have designed student debt primarily as a mortgage-like obligation: it is repaid to a fixed schedule.

ECONOMIST: Student loans

The losers promptly launched a legal protest that was partially successful, but on the crucial issue of price realism government lawyers ruled that the Army was under no obligation to investigate how realistic Oshkosh pricing was since with a fixed-price contract the company would be obligated to absorb any overruns.

FORBES: Oshkosh Proof That Pentagon Can Make, Or Break, A Company

It states that while our obligation to protect the British people and the British national interest is fixed and unwavering, the nature of the threats and the risks we face have - in recent decades - changed beyond recognition and confound all the old assumptions about national defence and international security.

BBC: In full: Brown security statement