Demonetisation at 10: What did Modi's masterstroke deliver? Pooja Prasanna explains why it is India’s most expensive policy failure
Remember this video? This video made us fear PM Modi’s sudden late night address to the nation for a long time.
At 8 pm on November 8, 2016, India became the world's largest economic experiment. No pilot project, no trial run, no real preparation. Just one televised announcement and a billion people scrambling to figure out what to do with the money in their pockets.
The promise was spectacular: black money would disappear, counterfeit currency would be crushed, terrorism would be starved of funds and India would leap into a cashless future.
Many even felt that this was a bold decision.
So as we mark the tenth anniversary of demonetisation, what does the official data and a mountain of evidence tell us? So why has demonetisation become one of India's most expensive policy failures.
Let me explain.
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Produced by Megha Mukundan, script by Pooja Prasanna, edit by Nikhil Sekhar ET, camera by Ajay R, production assistance by Riddhi Basu
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