The IMF is supposed to do two things in the new international financial architecture regime.  It is supposed to be the eyes and ears of the G-20 on matters of systemic instability.  And it is supposed to serve as a lender of last resort - admittedly a penurious one - for countries on the brink of default. 

The problem is that these jobs have always, in theory, been duties the IMF has had.  So financial reform for that particular international institution is not about making it different, but rather about making it better (and possibly about tying it to the G-20 a bit more closely than it was tied to the G-7).  Part of that is about giving it a dollop more money - not enough to make it a real backstop, but maybe enough to deal with Pakistan, Iceland, and someone else at once.

So, of course, there's talk of a reorg, perhaps a richly deserved reorg, but one that, in Tim Geithner's view, should always be paired with commensurate reevaluation of the contributions of the emerging markets.  Hence, I think, this part of his speech for the big IMF meeting in Istanbul:

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