Dhaka, April 18 -- Since the US presidential election last year, I have been commenting regularly on various aspects of Donald Trump's agenda and what it might mean for America, financial markets, and the rest of the world. There has been no shortage of chaos, but that was largely expected, given the president's ham-handed, erratic "method" of policymaking.

As I noted in February, and again in March, other economies may respond to Trump's aggression by boosting their own domestic demand and reducing their dependency on US consumers and financial markets. If there is a positive spin to the current mess, it is that Europeans and the Chinese have already started to pursue such changes. Germany is loosening its "debt brake" and allowing for ...