"The term comes from slavery days, when slaves had to dig holes in the earthen floors of their cabins, " Jones says.

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Think of it as paying individuals or companies to dig holes and fill them up again, but skipping all of the make-work.

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Keynes's solution to the Great Depression was that governments should even be willing to pay people to dig holes and fill them in again.

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Many people were starting to balk at sky-high market valuations of companies whose only meaningful asset was a licence to dig holes in some obscure part of the world.

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To build up his legs, core, arm and hands, he and his brother and father would toss tires, dig holes and refill them, push wheelbarrows full of dirt, cut down trees with an ax and split wood.

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In a turn of phrase which I think many Keynesians today might feel would have been better left unsaid, Keynes argued that this would work even if workers were hired by the government simply to dig holes in the ground and fill them up again.

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Implication: When things go really wrong, entrepreneurs who would be wise to cut their losses may be more inclined to dig deeper holes.

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The price of fuel is tempting coal mine owners to dig more holes and buy more trucks to shift the dirt.

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Utility companies dig up 300, 000 holes in London each year, TfL have said.

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Six months living in holes in the ground that he had to dig out everyday, listening to artillery shells going off and explosions all around him.

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