Appropriately for someone who is presenting himself as a global chancellor, Gordon Brown had drinks in New York last night with a roomful of world class economists. Among their number were Joseph Stiglitz and Paul Krugman, two Nobel prize winners.

Krugman it was who described Mr Brown's bank saving bailout in the UK as the work of a "saviour". So it was a case of god meets genius over cocktails in the Waldorf Astoria.

Mr Brown arrived in America to make history at the meeting of the G20 countries being trailed as a remake of Bretton Woods - the Second World War conference that shaped the modern world's financial institutions.

With the model broken and a worldwide crash a real possibility, Mr Brown and President Zarkozy of France have seized the opportunity to attempt nothing less than re-order global finance with a shopping list for outgoing President Bush to sign.

Mr Brown's agenda for Washington this weekend is nothing if not short of ambitious. It includes co-ordination on a package of financial stimulus - tax cuts and public spending, a clean up of the banking system, a beefed-up surveillance role for the IMF, and demands for banks to pass on interest rate cuts to customers and a new push for a world trade deal.

Is any of it possible? Well, Mr Brown comes to Washington with the wind in his sails. The economic crisis has transformed his premiership of Britain and brought home his global reputation as a leader who actually understands and delights in the machinations of economics.

He already has assurances from the Persian Gulf region to help refinance the IMF's $250bn bailout pot for struggling countries and he will pressure China to increase its contributions too. Last night the Prime Minister was expected to hold talks with the Emir of Kuwait and the King of Saudi Arabia.

But with the White House in transition, and President Elect Barrack Obama distancing himself from the event, it is hard to see how binding the decisions of the conference will be.