Keynes argued that governments, in extremis, could boost demand by digging holes.

ECONOMIST: The world economy

Instead of digging holes in the electrodes, they are coating them with a forest of carbon nanotubes, each five nanometres (billionths of a metre) wide.

ECONOMIST: Electricity storage

Furthermore, even if we put them to work digging and filling holes (which, I cannot overemphasize, we would not want them to do in reality), that still creates goods and services because the private sector has excess capacity.

FORBES: Obama + Ryan = Catastrophe

At least Mr Henderson, contemplating his awful inheritance, seems inclined to follow the first law of holes: stop digging.

ECONOMIST: The car industry

His high-school coach, Larry Turner, said that in addition to long-tossing more than 300 feet, Bundy used to build arm strength by digging and refilling post-holes and flipping over tractor tires.

WSJ: Dylan Bundy, Trevor Bauer, Matt Barnes: Throwing Long to Throw Short