Historically high levels of private and public debt coupled with already very low short-term interest rates appear to limit the options for stimulative monetary policy in many advanced economies today. One option that has not yet been considered is monetary financing by central banks to boost...

We have helicopter money when there is a lump-sum monetary transfer which produces intended central bank capital losses and/or a permanent monetary base change. This extraordinary monetary policy option appears whenever there is a significant economic crisis. But then the helicopter never flies....

The scientific reassessment of the economic role of the state after the crisis has renewed interest in Abba Lerner’s theory of functional finance (FF). A thorough discussion of this concept is helpful in reconsidering the debate on the nature of money and the origin of the business cycle and...