The US Senate last week moved to legislate against the funding of IMF bail-outs of countries that have been sufficiently irresponsible as to allow their public debt to reach or exceed 100 per cent of GDP. (Could this be hypocritical, given that the US is not far off this position itself?)With the US the largest member of the IMF, one wonders how the IMF would go about doing its job rescuing countries like Greece and other eurozone members that might yet find themselves in trouble. It is also worth considering that the EU accounts for about one-third of the IMF's funding and is no doubt finding its capacity to do so strained at the present time. (For an explanation of how the IMF funds its activities, see Friday's edition of BankingDay.)There was also a quiet announcement from Dubai World, that it had reached an 'in principle' agreement with its bankers on restructuring its US$23.5 billion of debt.Could Dubai World be pointing to the solution to the current sovereign debt crisis (perhaps Germany is right)? Is it time to forget about rescue packages and bail-outs that could crimp global economic growth for a decade or more?History tells us that when Russia and Brazil defaulted in 1998 they remained pariahs in financial markets for only three to four years, and then it was back to business as usual.