Barbara Harriss-White is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Oxford. She has decades of experience studying India’s vast informal economy. She answers a series of questions on demonetisation with Madras Courier – painting a comprehensive picture of what demonetisation has done to democracy, agriculture, the ‘black economy’ and society.
Introduction by Barbara
I have been following notebandi from Europe (where the media are paying little attention) and I’m not watching Indian TV. So my experience isn’t first-hand, and my answers are conditioned by what I’ve gleaned from over a quarter million words in the Indian press, in English editorials and op-eds by some three score economists, practically none of whom saw this coming.
How the economists have understood the unfolding events since November 8 is a story in itself – but one for another time. I need to stop reading and draw breath. I’m responding after the deadline of December 30, the day on which a senior official was reported as saying ‘the economy will be running far more smoothly than it ever has’, when Mr Modi assured the electorate that ‘the sufferings of the poor will cease’ and Mr Jaitley reported that ‘the impact doesn’t appear to be as adverse as it was being predicted.’
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