Even after 10 months, many of us can still feel the tremors of the groundbreaking demonetisation wave that shook the whole nation and tumbled our economic situation. With society struggling from cash crunch after a sudden ban on use of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes and people standing in long queues outside banks and ATMs to get their own money, the move is still drawing flak and mostly for its botched implementation. In fact, recently the Editor-in-Chief of Forbes magazine, Steve Forbes, criticized demonetisation, calling this decision ‘sickening and immoral' and a ‘massive theft of people's property'.

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Being a man of ‘golden' words that Steve is, he didn't hesitate or hold himself back from criticizing the Indian government and went on to compare it with former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's infamous 1970 sterilization program, in his article he wrote in December. “Not since India's short-lived forced-sterilization program in the 1970s–this bout of Nazi-like eugenics was instituted to deal with the country's “overpopulation”–has the government engaged in something so immoral." Calling out the Indian bureaucracy for being ‘notorious' for corruption, red tape and lethargy, Steve not only condemned the rules and taxes imposed by the government; but also expressed concern over the businesses that are shutting down as they are unable to pay their employees.

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Since being tactful was never his cup of tea, he went on to take a dig at terrorism too and said, “Human nature hasn't changed since we began roaming this planet. People will always find ways to engage in wrong doing. Terrorists aren't about to quit their evil acts because of a currency change.” For once, at least there was someone who understood the gravity of the situation. Well, although he attacked us with much brutality, we weren't the only ones who came under his radar. He criticized all those nations that followed India's footsteps and made similar moves. However, he did advice that India should get rid of the complex tax system that is the main reason for tax evasion.

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He even went on to say that India has not only ‘immorally harmed' its own people, but also set the most destructive example of the anti-cash fad for the rest of the world. This was definitely not something we were looking forward to, but do we really have anything substantial to support this move? Especially, after RBI's Annual Report was released which shows not everything was right with demonetisation. According to Financial Express, 99% of banned currency notes actually came back to the banking system and our GDP growth rate also fell to 5.7% in the April-June quarter this year.

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Not just Steve, but former RBI governor, Raghuram Rajan too said that he cautioned the government of the short-term costs of demotenisation and even suggested ‘alternatives' to achieve the goal of putting an end to black money. In an exclusive interview to The Times of India, Rajan said that although the intent behind the move was good, it had come at substantial costs. “Certainly at this point, one cannot in anyway say it has been an economic success,” he further added.

Source: Financial Express

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