The counterplan solves. It has the central bank implement regular helicopter drops

I will now discuss the forms that this type of QE for the People can take.

1. Helicopter drops

Friedman’s ‘helicopter drop’ is a form of short-term demand stimulus. Friedman insisted that the helicopter should only fly once. In practice the helicopters might fly more than once, if the recession is deep, but they should not need to continue flying forever. Of course, these days, no one would drop bank notes from helicopters. In developed countries, most people have bank accounts. The central bank can simply credit bank accounts. Alternatively, the central bank could send a cheque to every individual.

Many people have more than one bank account, however. How would the central bank ensure that each individual only received one payment? Some kind of authentication would be needed. Furthermore, about eight per cent of the population in developed countries do not have bank accounts. These people include some of the poorest in society – homeless people, for example – for whom a bank account is impossible because they have no fixed address. Excluding them from the helicopter drop would be unfair. It would also reduce its effectiveness, since these are the people most likely to spend the money rather than save it.

One way for the central bank to deliver one-off helicopter money might be for every individual to have an account at the central bank. The central bank would simply credit these accounts according to need. An alternative might be to issue prepaid cards which would be accepted by retailers.