New Delhi, July 9 -- In a remarkable commentary published at the end of June, a former leading economist in the Trump administration acknowledges (and endorses) what many have suspected: The function of the US President's foreign economic policy is to act like a 21st-century robber baron.

The original robber barons were greedy industrialists who grew rich through monopolistic practices in the US during the Gilded Age. In the late 19th century, men like John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie built massive fortunes by suppressing competition and charging exorbitant prices in industries such as oil and steel.

They were called 'robbers' because exploiting your consumers to enrich yourself is probably the most denigrated business practice i...