New Delhi, Oct. 27 -- ALL POPULISTS promise much to the working man, but Donald Trump predicted a golden age. Just before the election in 2024, he told voters they were days away from "the best jobs, the biggest paychecks, and the brightest economic future the world has ever seen". His unorthodox blend of tariffs, tax cuts and deportations, he claimed, would bring down living costs, revive America's industrial heartland and restore middle-class prosperity.

Has the president delivered? On October 22nd the White House claimed his policies were driving up wages and fuelling a "blue-collar BOOM". America's economy is indeed growing briskly, with output on course to expand at an annualised rate of around 3% in the third quarter. But many of t...