Condoms, honey bee insurance, roads in Guam, ice-breaking polar ships – think of a boondoggle and the almost $900bn US fiscal stimulus package appears to have it. Or that, at least, is what many of its opponents have been asserting.

In fact, only $3bn to $5bn of the bill – less than 1 per cent – counts as special interest spending, according to White House estimates. Moreover, some of these projects, such as $125m to upgrade Washington’s sewerage system, are genuinely stimulative.