A debate opposed Milton Friedman and Nicholas Kaldor on monetary issues in 1969-1970. This paper emphasizes that Friedman initially held the upper hand in the debate due in part to the success of monetarism from the 1970s, but also thanks to the large popularity of his helicopter metaphor. Nevertheless, we also stress that Kaldor finally won the debate. This claim is based on two arguments that can be observed at present, in the light of the Great Recession: Friedman's metaphor has been deeply twisted from its original sense and is now interpreted as a fiscal policy rather than a monetary option; while hard-line monetarism never triumphed in central banks, Kaldor's endogenous money supply theory has gained ground in the same time.