Is now the time for a helicopter drop?

Central banks are already facilitating fiscal packages in various ways. But with the fiscal costs of the coronavirus likely to rise much further, policymakers might consider explicitly financing them with a permanent expansion of central bank money – the infamous “helicopter drop”. These are not the failsafe cure they are sometimes made out to be; indeed, in some circumstances, they offer little more than a QE-financed fiscal expansion. Nonetheless, in the current environment, it makes sense to try everything.