Whether it will succeed in burnishing the cultural image of teaching once the economy has recovered, and students at elite universities are once again enticed by the high pay offered elsewhere, seems less likely.

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He has spent much of his first year in office working toward burnishing what he has called his nation's diminished stature in the globe.

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But as a relatively junior member of a minority party in Congress, he may have years ahead of him asking questions in committees, burnishing his voting record, climbing up the pecking order, and hoping for a political swing that will put his party in the majority.

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But Mr Laar, a talkative man in a taciturn nation, sometimes seems better at burnishing his country's image to foreigners than at connecting with his own people, many of whom think of him as glib, even slippery.

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CBI's annual conference on November 28th, Mr Brown was once again burnishing his credentials as a long-term planner, saying that investment in infrastructure was vital for Britain's future.

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