Most important, the culture of the financial sector needs to change. The principal purpose of finance is to provide services to the other parts of the economy, which it cannot do unless it enjoys the confidence of those who depend on those services - that is, all of us. Restoring trust should therefore start with an all-out effort to promote and enforce ethical behavior throughout the industry.
The third choice, whether to cooperate or go it alone, is the most critical. No economy is an island; indeed, the global economy is more integrated than ever before. Consider this: Fifty years ago, emerging markets and developing economies accounted for about a quarter of world GDP. Today, they generate half of global income, a share that will continue to rise.
But sovereign states are no longer the only actors on the scene. A global network of new stakeholders has emerged, including NGOs and citizen activists - often empowered by social media. This new reality demands a new response. We need to update, adapt, and deepen our methods of working together.
This can be done by building on effective institutions of cooperation that already exist. Institutions such as the IMF should be made even more representative in light of the dynamic shifts taking place in the global economy. The new networks of influence should be embraced and given space in the 21 century architecture of global governance.
The year 2014 was a tough one. The recovery was slow, a series of dangerous geopolitical risks emerged, and the world was confronted with a devastating Ebola outbreak. Next year may be another tough one, but it could also be a good one - a truly multilateral year.
New momentum on global trade could help unlock investment worldwide, and I am hopeful about the United Nations' new Sustainable Development Goals, and about the prospects for a comprehensive climate-change agreement at the end of next year.
Against this backdrop, the adoption of the IMF reforms by the United States Congress would send a long-overdue signal to rapidly growing emerging economies that the world counts on their voices, and their resources, to find global solutions to global problems.
Growth, trade, development, and climate change: 2015 will be a rendezvous of important multilateral initiatives. We cannot afford to see them fail. Let us make the right choices.
The author is the managing director of the International Monetary Fund. Project Syndicate
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