Does he think he's Gordon Gekko?

Gordon Brown and his wife, Sarah, were cheered by a group of children as the couple opened trading yesterday at the New York Stock Exchange by ringing its famous bell.

Mr Brown's appearance on Wall Street was to promote the Global Business Coalition for Education, which lobbies high-profile corporate figures to back teaching programmes.

As the UN special envoy for global education, Mr Brown will address the UN's General Assembly this week, He will also speak to its Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, to launch an initiative pushing for improved and more widespread schooling to be used as a tool for development in poor countries.