This article could have been a more researched. Currently the arguments seem to be more superficial than based on ground realities in India. The comparison with

This article could have been a more researched. Currently the arguments seem to be more superficial than based on ground realities in India. The comparison with Nigeria also doesn't seem to be correct. For a theoretical perspective on this, please see Kenneth Rogoff's theory on this in the "Curse of Cash"[1] While there might have been implementation challenges, the Indian government did not a do a "cancellation" of the high denomination notes, as claimed in the article. It is at best a "currency swap" at a large scale. Whatever money is forced to come out from being stashed away or un-accounted for, will be replaced by new valid currency of 500/1000 Rs notes. Agreed, a withdrawal or cancellation suddenly will undermine the currency. But, not in this case. On the other hand, even road side vegetable vendors and shops have started using online payment gateway machines in this period. In the long-term, the shadow or parallel economy is going to be pushed and integrated with more mainstream and benefit everyone. That's not the case now: an average middle class tax paying citizen cannot reliably invest in a real-estate (especially plots and independent houses) as half of the money is transacted in black. This is a vicious circle and pushes the prices of luxury goods, real estate etc., northwards. [1] http://blog.press.princeton.edu/2016/11/17/kenneth-rogoff-indias-currency-exchange-and-the-curse-of-cash/ http://blog.press.princeton.edu/2016/11/17/kenneth-rogoff-in...