Central banks have always been wary of “helicopter money” on the grounds that QE is temporary while giving cash to the public is permanent. But the temporary has become permanent. What was once unconventional has now become conventional.As with most casual commentary about monetary policy, which trades understanding for catchphrases, sophistry, and silliness, this is phenomenally foolish.
QE is temporary in the sense that the Federal Reserve traded one asset for another asset (cash for Mortgage-Backed Securities and U.S. Treasuries). The Federal Reserve "created money" and purchased these interest-bearing assets. As these interest-bearing assets bear fruit, they can un-create the money they created (plus some more thanks to interest, if they so desired). It is in this sense that QE is temporary.
Simply giving money away isn't trading money for an interest-bearing asset: it's giving money away. Not only would it be illegal for the Federal Reserve to do this (this is fiscal policy, not monetary policy, the purview of Congress), but it would be permanent because the Federal Reserve has no way to "un-do" it, absent taxes which go unspent.
The distinction between "permanent" and "temporary" is not in the timeframe, it's the net change in assets. The writer of the Guardian's article either misunderstands this meaning of temporary and permanent or ignores it: without this distinction, the article loses coherence.
