Then the idea was to provide quick, no-strings-attached funding in the early stages of a crisis.

ECONOMIST: The IMF is in search of a role, and a happier reputation

The bank will take at least 18 months to get going, so will do nothing to tackle the current perceived shortage of loans for smaller businesses (the Bank of England's Funding for Lending is the putative quick fix).

BBC: Cable rehabilitates investment banking

Executives came to use measures of efficiency that focused on the short term, investing in quick wins in sustaining and efficiency innovations instead of funding empowering innovations that pay off in five years, or often even longer.

CNN: Christensen: We are living the capitalist's dilemma

The wave of debt buybacks, the analysts say, is the latest illustration of European banks' quick-fix solution to capital problems, in exchange for potential funding problems down the road.

WSJ: New Tactics Boost Bank Profits

And we need radically new ways of funding scientific businesses, who are consistently let down by our banking and investment system which values quick wins over long-term growth.

BBC: Viewpoint: 'Spend 4G cash on science'

And despite London Mayor Boris Johnson's ultimatum to Spurs last week to settle the dispute before next Tuesday and accept a funding package to help redevelop their White Hart Lane ground, the OPLC had lost confidence in a quick resolution.

BBC: London 2012: West Ham Olympic Stadium deal collapses