According to a new survey, more Americans would like to see Microsoft running the US government than any other business.

Some 28 per cent of a random sample of 1,000 Americans told New York marketing surveyors Brouillard that if the US was a troubled corporation, Microsoft - and more specifically, chairman Bill Gates - would be their choice of white knight.

Second on the list of saviours comes IBM, followed by General Motors and then General Electric.