{"id":3568,"date":"2016-11-24T10:24:27","date_gmt":"2016-11-24T04:54:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indiauncut.com\/?p=4040"},"modified":"2016-11-24T10:24:27","modified_gmt":"2016-11-24T04:54:27","slug":"the-humantitarian-cost-trumps-any-economic-argument","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/the-humantitarian-cost-trumps-any-economic-argument\/","title":{"rendered":"The Humanitarian Cost Trumps Any Economic Argument"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Every time a poor person dies, India&#39;s GDP per capita goes up. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Modinomics?src=hash\">#Modinomics<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Amit Varma (@amitvarma) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/amitvarma\/status\/801342706995892224\">November 23, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>So I put up the tweet above yesterday to illustrate a point I&#8217;ve had to make repeatedly about the demonetisation: When the humanitarian costs of a particular move are so huge, it is pointless to even discuss the economic impact. I often quip, if Modi killed the poorer half of the country, some &#8216;respectable&#8217; economist in his pay would publish a sober, reasoned argument that hey, India&#8217;s GDP per capita just went up, this is good for the economy. (And they wouldn&#8217;t disclose their affiliation while doing so, but leave that aside for the moment.)<\/p>\n<p>Similarly, if Modi was just to announce that all money in everyone&#8217;s bank account was to be confiscated by the government, no doubt certain economists would pop up to point out the long-term economic benefit of this: the fiscal deficit wiped out, more money available for infrastructure spending, and of course, an end to black money. But such a rationale would not just be besides the point, it would be immoral&#8212;for obvious reasons. <\/p>\n<p>The thought experiments above are not very far from what is happening. The legitimately earned wealth of tens of millions of people has been eroded, businesses have shut down, the economy&#8217;s come to a standstill and the death toll is rising every day. It&#8217;s heartbreaking&#8212;and yet, we have sober economic arguments going this way or that way.<\/p>\n<p>Frankly, I believe that a recession is inevitable, and that the economic costs of this will far outweigh any economic benefits, as is always the case with such social engineering. But that argument of mine is besides the point, because the moral costs make it moot. Lives are being lost, livelihoods are being destroyed, and taking a neutral stance, or making &#8216;balanced&#8217; arguments, is, in my view, is as odious as actively supporting the butchery that is underway.<\/p>\n<p>Some links: <\/p>\n<p>My guest column in the Times of India last Sunday: <a href=\"\/narendra-modi-takes-a-great-leap-backwards\/\" title=\"Narendra Modi takes a Great Leap backwards -- Amit Varma\">Narendra Modi takes a Great Leap backwards<\/a><\/p>\n<p>And <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/peri.maheshwer\/posts\/10157916760445151\" title=\"Peri Maheshwar's excellent FB post\">Peri Maheshwar&#8217;s excellent FB post<\/a> on this yesterday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Every time a poor person dies, India&#39;s GDP per capita goes up. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Modinomics?src=hash\">#Modinomics<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Amit Varma (@amitvarma) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/amitvarma\/status\/801342706995892224\">November 23, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>So I put up the tweet above yesterday to illustrate a point I&#8217;ve had to make repeatedly about the demonetisation: When the humanitarian costs of a particular move are so huge, it is pointless to even discuss the economic impact. I often quip, if Modi killed the poorer half of the country, some &#8216;respectable&#8217; economist in his pay would publish a sober, reasoned argument that hey, India&#8217;s GDP per capita just went up, this is good for the economy. (And they wouldn&#8217;t disclose their affiliation while doing so, but leave that aside for the moment.)<\/p>\n<p>Similarly, if Modi was just to announce that all money in everyone&#8217;s bank account was to be confiscated by the government, no doubt certain economists would pop up to point out the long-term economic benefit of this: the fiscal deficit wiped out, more money available for infrastructure spending, and of course, an end to black money. But such a rationale would not just be besides the point, it would be immoral&#8212;for obvious reasons. <\/p>\n<p>The thought experiment above is not very far from what is happening. The legitimately earned wealth of tens of millions of people has been eroded, businesses have shut down, the economy&#8217;s come to a standstill and the death toll is rising every day. It&#8217;s heartbreaking&#8212;and yet, we have sober economic arguments going this way or that way.<\/p>\n<p>Frankly, I believe that a recession is inevitable, and that the economic costs of this will far outweigh any economic benefits, as is always the case with such social engineering. But that argument of mine is besides the point, because the moral costs make it moot. Lives are being lost, livelihoods are being destroyed, and taking a neutral stance, or making &#8216;balanced&#8217; arguments, is, in my view, is as odious as actively supporting the butchery that is underway.<\/p>\n<p>Some links: <\/p>\n<p>My guest column in the Times of India last Sunday: <a href=\"\"\/iublog\/article\/narendra-modi-takes-a-great-leap-backwards\/\" title=\"Narendra Modi takes a Great Leap backwards -- Amit Varma\">Narendra Modi takes a Great Leap backwards<\/a><\/p>\n<p>And <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/peri.maheshwer\/posts\/10157916760445151\" title=\"Peri Maheshwar's excellent FB post\">Peri Maheshwar&#8217;s excellent FB post<\/a> on this yesterday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,9,3,4],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Humanitarian Cost Trumps Any Economic Argument - India Uncut<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/the-humantitarian-cost-trumps-any-economic-argument\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Humanitarian Cost Trumps Any Economic Argument - India Uncut\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Every time a poor person dies, India&#039;s GDP per capita goes up. #Modinomics&mdash; Amit Varma (@amitvarma) November 23, 2016  So I put up the tweet above yesterday to illustrate a point I&#8217;ve had to make repeatedly about the demonetisation: When the humanitarian costs of a particular move are so huge, it is pointless to even discuss the economic impact. I often quip, if Modi killed the poorer half of the country, some &#8216;respectable&#8217; economist in his pay would publish a sober, reasoned argument that hey, India&#8217;s GDP per capita just went up, this is good for the economy. (And they wouldn&#8217;t disclose their affiliation while doing so, but leave that aside for the moment.) Similarly, if Modi was just to announce that all money in everyone&#8217;s bank account was to be confiscated by the government, no doubt certain economists would pop up to point out the long-term economic benefit of this: the fiscal deficit wiped out, more money available for infrastructure spending, and of course, an end to black money. But such a rationale would not just be besides the point, it would be immoral&#8212;for obvious reasons.  The thought experiment above is not very far from what is happening. The legitimately earned wealth of tens of millions of people has been eroded, businesses have shut down, the economy&#8217;s come to a standstill and the death toll is rising every day. It&#8217;s heartbreaking&#8212;and yet, we have sober economic arguments going this way or that way. Frankly, I believe that a recession is inevitable, and that the economic costs of this will far outweigh any economic benefits, as is always the case with such social engineering. But that argument of mine is besides the point, because the moral costs make it moot. Lives are being lost, livelihoods are being destroyed, and taking a neutral stance, or making &#8216;balanced&#8217; arguments, is, in my view, is as odious as actively supporting the butchery that is underway. Some links:  My guest column in the Times of India last Sunday: Narendra Modi takes a Great Leap backwards And Peri Maheshwar&#8217;s excellent FB post on this yesterday.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/the-humantitarian-cost-trumps-any-economic-argument\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"India Uncut\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-11-24T04:54:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/iu-placeholder4.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"822\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Amit Varma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Amit Varma\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/the-humantitarian-cost-trumps-any-economic-argument\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/the-humantitarian-cost-trumps-any-economic-argument\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Amit Varma\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/#\/schema\/person\/890a3d673b0c90c97d76c45a1754ac3c\"},\"headline\":\"The Humanitarian Cost Trumps Any Economic Argument\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-11-24T04:54:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-11-24T04:54:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/the-humantitarian-cost-trumps-any-economic-argument\/\"},\"wordCount\":366,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/#\/schema\/person\/890a3d673b0c90c97d76c45a1754ac3c\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Economics\",\"Freedom\",\"India\",\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/the-humantitarian-cost-trumps-any-economic-argument\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/the-humantitarian-cost-trumps-any-economic-argument\/\",\"name\":\"The Humanitarian Cost Trumps Any Economic Argument - India Uncut\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-11-24T04:54:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-11-24T04:54:27+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/the-humantitarian-cost-trumps-any-economic-argument\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/the-humantitarian-cost-trumps-any-economic-argument\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/the-humantitarian-cost-trumps-any-economic-argument\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Humanitarian Cost Trumps Any Economic Argument\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/\",\"name\":\"India Uncut\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/#\/schema\/person\/890a3d673b0c90c97d76c45a1754ac3c\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/#\/schema\/person\/890a3d673b0c90c97d76c45a1754ac3c\",\"name\":\"Amit Varma\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/amitvarma-bio.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/amitvarma-bio.jpg\",\"width\":200,\"height\":200,\"caption\":\"Amit Varma\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Humanitarian Cost Trumps Any Economic Argument - India Uncut","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/the-humantitarian-cost-trumps-any-economic-argument\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Humanitarian Cost Trumps Any Economic Argument - India Uncut","og_description":"Every time a poor person dies, India&#39;s GDP per capita goes up. #Modinomics&mdash; Amit Varma (@amitvarma) November 23, 2016  So I put up the tweet above yesterday to illustrate a point I&#8217;ve had to make repeatedly about the demonetisation: When the humanitarian costs of a particular move are so huge, it is pointless to even discuss the economic impact. I often quip, if Modi killed the poorer half of the country, some &#8216;respectable&#8217; economist in his pay would publish a sober, reasoned argument that hey, India&#8217;s GDP per capita just went up, this is good for the economy. (And they wouldn&#8217;t disclose their affiliation while doing so, but leave that aside for the moment.) Similarly, if Modi was just to announce that all money in everyone&#8217;s bank account was to be confiscated by the government, no doubt certain economists would pop up to point out the long-term economic benefit of this: the fiscal deficit wiped out, more money available for infrastructure spending, and of course, an end to black money. But such a rationale would not just be besides the point, it would be immoral&#8212;for obvious reasons.  The thought experiment above is not very far from what is happening. The legitimately earned wealth of tens of millions of people has been eroded, businesses have shut down, the economy&#8217;s come to a standstill and the death toll is rising every day. It&#8217;s heartbreaking&#8212;and yet, we have sober economic arguments going this way or that way. Frankly, I believe that a recession is inevitable, and that the economic costs of this will far outweigh any economic benefits, as is always the case with such social engineering. But that argument of mine is besides the point, because the moral costs make it moot. Lives are being lost, livelihoods are being destroyed, and taking a neutral stance, or making &#8216;balanced&#8217; arguments, is, in my view, is as odious as actively supporting the butchery that is underway. Some links:  My guest column in the Times of India last Sunday: Narendra Modi takes a Great Leap backwards And Peri Maheshwar&#8217;s excellent FB post on this yesterday.","og_url":"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/the-humantitarian-cost-trumps-any-economic-argument\/","og_site_name":"India Uncut","article_published_time":"2016-11-24T04:54:27+00:00","og_image":[{"width":822,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/iu-placeholder4.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Amit Varma","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Amit Varma","Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/the-humantitarian-cost-trumps-any-economic-argument\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/the-humantitarian-cost-trumps-any-economic-argument\/"},"author":{"name":"Amit Varma","@id":"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/#\/schema\/person\/890a3d673b0c90c97d76c45a1754ac3c"},"headline":"The Humanitarian Cost Trumps Any Economic Argument","datePublished":"2016-11-24T04:54:27+00:00","dateModified":"2016-11-24T04:54:27+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/the-humantitarian-cost-trumps-any-economic-argument\/"},"wordCount":366,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/#\/schema\/person\/890a3d673b0c90c97d76c45a1754ac3c"},"articleSection":["Economics","Freedom","India","Politics"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/the-humantitarian-cost-trumps-any-economic-argument\/","url":"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/the-humantitarian-cost-trumps-any-economic-argument\/","name":"The Humanitarian Cost Trumps Any Economic Argument - India Uncut","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-11-24T04:54:27+00:00","dateModified":"2016-11-24T04:54:27+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/the-humantitarian-cost-trumps-any-economic-argument\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/the-humantitarian-cost-trumps-any-economic-argument\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/the-humantitarian-cost-trumps-any-economic-argument\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Humanitarian Cost Trumps Any Economic Argument"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/","name":"India Uncut","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/#\/schema\/person\/890a3d673b0c90c97d76c45a1754ac3c"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/#\/schema\/person\/890a3d673b0c90c97d76c45a1754ac3c","name":"Amit Varma","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/amitvarma-bio.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/amitvarma-bio.jpg","width":200,"height":200,"caption":"Amit Varma"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3568"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3568"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3568\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}