French economist and Nobel laureate Jean Tirole said here on Thursday that it was not possible to “catch corrupt money” with demonetisation. Mr. Tirole, winner of the 2014 Nobel Prize in Economics, was in the city to deliver the Dipak Banerjee lecture at Presidency University.
On demonetisation and its impact, the economist said: “You cannot get the corrupt money right away because the money has already been invested in real estate, gold and other things.” Such a move, however, “will make future corruption more difficult.”
Cashless economy “in my opinion is a good thing,” Mr. Tirole said. But it should be ensured that the poor, who were most dependent on cash, did not suffer, he said.
The economist referred to attempts being made by Scandinavian countries. But the situation there was different.
“Denmark and Sweden are trying to get rid of cash because it is more convenient. In India, the reason is to get rid of corruption,” he said.
“Denmark is a different case because what they are trying to do is give prepaid debit cards to the poor. That’s what you have to do for a cashless economy because the poor rely heavily on cash,” Mr. Tirole said.
