Many say Ben Bernanke is once again responsible for stocks making new highs. According to Bloomberg, he went to Japan this week to promote the idea of helicopter money—the outright monetization of fiscal deficits by the central bank without any obligation to ever repay the money.
“Helicopter money is a coordinated monetary and fiscal stimulus. It is a fiscal stimulus funded permanently by the Central Bank,” said Willem Buiter, the chief economist of Citigroup. While Bernanke went to Japan to promote the idea, Buiter would like to see it happen in Europe and China, ideally in combination with debt restructuring.
“There are obvious win-win situations that we could have. Restructuring of debt if possible, haircuts if necessary, and then a well-targeted fiscal stimulus funded ultimately through the European Central Bank (ECB), people’s helicopter money.”
