Frankfurt, 11 a.m.
Draghi announced today at a special press conference that the ECB will distribute a €1,000 check to all European citizens in May 2016. This policy, described as « helicopter money, » was sought by many economic commentators and bloggers. Draghi finally gave in to the call , saying, « We are on the brink of disaster. I was in denial by refusing to consider this option before. »
The central banker explained the reasons that led him to decide on this policy: « Our experts are graduates of the best universities and recruited from the best banks, but they were unable to see the virtues of this policy. We found the answer on Twitter: it is clearly the solution and it can be implemented in practice without agreement with the states. »
The former Goldman Sachs executive said he was influenced by the advice of his friend and colleague Peter Praet : « Peter was unconsciously behind this decision. He said that a central bank could do it. That gave me a boost. » When asked about the consensus around this decision, particularly on the German side, Draghi initially refused to comment, before responding, « Frankly, it annoys me. Whatever I do, Jens (Weidmann) never agrees, « adding , « He even has a say in my choice of tie. At some point, you have to ignore the obstacles and move forward.«
With a clever nod, Draghi closed the conference with a remix of Booba’s song « Du Biff » (« We give it to you, you snort it, you love it »), which could be heard in Frankfurt. It was an excellent way to inaugurate this new policy.
Julien Pinter
