Skip to content
Subscriber Only
Business

Helicopter Money Takes Flight as Latest Drastic Monetary Idea

  • HSBC, Citigroup, Commerzbank economists discuss Friedman idea
  • Inflation still weak despite interest rate cuts, bond-buying
Video player cover image

Is It Time for the Fed to Fire Up the Helicopters?

By

Updated on

After more than 600 interest-rate cuts and $12 trillion of asset purchases failed to move the inflation needle enough, central banks may need to head even deeper into uncharted territory.

The way to get the world out of its disinflationary rut could lie in them directly financing government stimulus -- a strategy known as deploying “helicopter money” after a 1969 proposal from Nobel laureate Milton Friedman.