In news that is sure to depress anyone under the age of 30, Gross, the co-founder of bond investment firm PIMCO, who now runs a fund with Denver-based Janus Capital, says that while presidential hopefuls in the US spout mantras about how they are going to spur growth, none are addressing the reality of the future: that robots and technology are going to render "millions" of jobs redundant.

"Virtually every industry in existence is likely to become less labour-intensive in future years as new technology is assimilated into existing business models," Gross writes in his monthly note to investors.

Transport is a visible example of this transition and millions of truck and taxi drivers will be out of a job in the next 10 to 15 years due to driverless vehicles, he says.

It's not just blue-collar jobs at risk, and Gross warns aspiring fund managers that their industry is no exception.

But there is a solution to this conundrum: policymakers should invest in infrastructure, healthcare and, sensationally, a universal basic income of perhaps $10,000 per citizen.

While socialist in theory, Gross says the idea has support among more conservatives than liberals and is the rage in Silicon Valley – how else will a shrinking workforce pay for the latest gadget?

Gross even has the answer to how to fund this trillion-dollar exercise: through helicopter money, or money printing, by the central banks. Investors should therefore expect more quantitative easing, he says, despite the US Federal Reserve embarking on its first round of interest rate increases in a decade.

Talk of helicopter money has increased this year as central bank stimulus, particularly from the European Central Bank and Bank of Japan, has struggled to spark economic growth.

"The Fed, the ECB, BoJ [Bank of Japan] and BoE [Bank of England] have, in effect, bought bonds from their treasuries for six years now in order to allow them to spend money in support of their sagging economies," Gross says.

"They buy the bonds by printing money or figuratively dropping it from helicopters – expanding their balance sheets in the process.

"They then remit any net interest from their trillions of dollars or yen bond purchases right back to their treasuries. The money in essence is free of expense and free of repayment as long as the process continues uninterrupted."

But this "free money" does need to be paid for – most likely in the form of inflation, Gross concedes. Still, he says it's better than the alternative: austerity and an extended recession.

"I suspect politicians and central bankers will choose to fly, instead of die."