Commentary: Rubin's Tinkering May Avert Future Meltdowns

Last fall, when the world economy seemed ready to implode, desperate cries went up for a new international "financial architecture." Tear down the old system, critics demanded. Replace it with a global central bank, controls on the flow of private capital, and Chapter 11 protection for troubled nations. Amid this near-panic, U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin remained unflappable. All the system needed, he insisted, was modest reform.

Back then, Rubin seemed out of touch with reality. But as the sense of crisis has waned, his proposed tinkering looks like the right approach after all.