I read this article with great interest and then also looked at some of the comments made by common people like me on this article. Some of them were worth reading as they gave alternative point of views, but most of them lacked any substance. It is a sad way to rationalize, but it is clear than years of corruption, frustration and some form of cult following has taken away from most of the common Indians any logic they might have had otherwise.



Firstly, @ Tharoor, Modi’s cashless society dream should not be taken literally – what he likely meant was to have less dependence on cash. This is an important point he is making!!



However, this article did bring up the point of SWAT-type analysis not done for the current demonetization (for those who do not know what SWAT is please consult Wikipedia). While it is shocking for people like Tharoor involved in policy making at UN (where the motto is that one cannot be excluded even if takes forever in formulating and implementing policies) and less so at his tenure with Congress, even for non-economist like me it was so clear from the start that this analysis was not done and it will have repercussions. For most, the damn crocodiles will walk away…



To know what I mean by crocodiles, you have to bear with me with this Panchatantra-like story I blogged earlier at Forbes site.



“To get the crocodiles out, a man with good intentions started pumping water out from a pond. Small fishes also living in the water were highly inconvenienced breathing in 85% reduced water but were happy as they were sure that he would get the crocodiles, and with the new rain cycle, they would live happily ever after. The crocodiles, however, are comfortably living on the land, as they can, and are also waiting for the next rain cycle. Now who is going to break this news to the fish? … Moral of the story is that good intentions are not good enough. Modi needs a well-balanced counsel to brainstorm over issues that would decide the fate of 1.2 billion people!”