In what is an out-and-out blow to the Indian Government, Forbes has said that demonetization was ‘sickening and immoral’. And that’s not it. He went on to say that the move was a ‘massive theft of people’s property’. 

“What India has done is commit a massive theft of people’s property – a shocking move for a democratically elected government”, he said. 

Calling the Indian bureaucracy ‘notorious’ for corruption, red tape, and lethargy, Forbes compared the decision with former PM Indira Gandhi’s infamous sterilization program in the 1970s. 

“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,” he said.

Forbes has criticised the Indian government’s narratives to support demonetization pointing out that businesses are closing as companies are not able to pay their employees, and that currency change cannot stop terrorists from committing evil acts of terror. He went on to say that digitization “will happen in a free market one way or the other, but it needs time”.

But apart from criticism, Forbes also had some advice to share. 

“India should get rid of such a complex tax system, which is the main reason for tax evasion. India should slash income and business tax rates and simplify the whole tax structure; make the rupee as powerful as the Swiss franc; hack away at regulation.” 

And since subtlety isn’t his strongest suit, he also said:  

“India is the most extreme and destructive example of the anti-cash fad currently sweeping governments and the economics profession.” 

He added that India, apart from immorally harming its own people, has set a bad example for the rest of the world.

He clearly doesn’t hold back, eh? We wonder how our Government is going to respond to this. 

H/T: financialexpress