This article has an incoherent approach to monetary and fiscal policy: "Yet, even after recent U.S. interest rate hikes, the Fed has nowhere near enough room t

This article has an incoherent approach to monetary and fiscal policy: "Yet, even after recent U.S. interest rate hikes, the Fed has nowhere near enough room to cut rates that much without going negative." "Fiscal policy doesn’t offer much of an alternative. ... The U.S. government deficit is forecast to rise to $1 trillion as a result of tax cuts and higher public spending, ... Most economies are pushing against high and rising government debt levels" "Ultimately, central banks might have to resort to QE variations such as “helicopter money.” Originally a thought experiment of Milton Friedman, the government would print money and distribute it to the public to stimulate the economy... Helicopter money would at least deflect criticism of QE programs as favoring the wealthy and exacerbating inequality, as benefits would accrue to a wider spectrum of the population." Helicopter money is nothing other than a particular combination of fiscal policy and monetary policy. It is populist government deficit spending financed with money rather than debt. So a couple points: - There are proposals for money-financed government deficits: http://bilbo.economicoutlook.net/blog/?p=31715 http://bilbo.economicoutlook.net/blog/?p=31715 - Why give the money away for nothing? There's still unemployment, let's get something out of it. Let's use helicopter money to pay people to do things for the public good - There are proposals for public jobs financed by government deficit spending: http://bilbo.economicoutlook.net/blog/?p=23719 http://bilbo.economicoutlook.net/blog/?p=23719