something doesn't add up here. to begin with, $100 billion is just a drop in the bucket compared to the trillions the world governments have already committed or guaranteed in various stimulus packages. it just seems odd that the united states would be lending money to anyone at the same time it is borrowing trillions.

the mention of aiding third world countries seems disingenuous as well. i think the first world countries have enough problems of their own to deal with, and some of those emerging countries will be the ones leading the recovery, not the united states. right now president obama should be more concerned about his own currency collapsing.

so the mention of gold is the key. it looks to me like the imf has outlived its usefulness. its normal line of business was the plunder of third world countries that had fiscal problems, and its efforts are now dwarfed by the amount of money being printed up and thrown around by its member nations. so rather than sell gold, its one asset of value (assuming it actually has the gold, and hasn't already leased it) the imf gives its member nations claims on the gold, so it can't be sold to china, india, or any other country that may want to diversify out of us dollars.

although there no longer seems to be any reason for the imf to exist, i don't expect its formal dissolution. but its member nations want to make sure that its gold (which really belongs to them anyway) won't be transferred from west to east. so i doubt a single ounce of imf gold will ever find its way into the open market.