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.

FORBES: Shock horror - the Olympics are not Keynesian

"There was a Labour councillor who said the statue should be ground down and used to fill potholes up, which is absolutely disgraceful, " he said.

BBC: Margaret Thatcher statue