a tool of unconventional monetary policy that has been proposed as an alternative to quantitative easing when interest rates are close to zero and the economy remains weak or enters recession; popularised by Milton Friedman in the form of dropping money on the ground (from a helicopter), though he didn't intend it as an actual policy
The idea of giving money directly to people to boost growth was put forward in a famous 1969 article by Milton Friedman, who used the parable of scattering dollar bills from a helicopter for the public to pick up. 'Helicopter money'--printing money to distribute to the public--has been proposed by American bond investor Bill Gross and by the economics journalist Martin Wolf, among others.