Renowned economist Larry Kudlow tells
Newsmax TV that leading Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump needs to spell out his tax plan for the nation.
Kudlow said while the billionaire developer has spoken of the need for a "really low tax rate system" in the past, he's been silent about it in campaign speeches thus far.
"He's said, 'I'm going to be the greatest job creator in history,' but he doesn't go through his tax plan," Kudlow, a senior contributor at CNBC, said Thursday on "The Steve Malzberg Show."
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"He sounds awfully like a protectionist. He wants large tariffs on China, large tariffs on Mexico, could be elsewhere.... If you go that route, you sink the dollar, you do enormous economic damage to both consumers and businesses.
"Mexico, for example, is our second-biggest export market and our third-biggest trading market. China is our second-biggest trading market. If you swap tariffs on them, the dollar's going to fall big time and consumers and businesses will be hurt."
Kudlow said Trump should clear that up during the first GOP presidential debate of the 10 top-polling candidates Thursday night.
"It's not just about Donald Trump. I want specifics. Are you pro-growth? Are you flat taxers? Are you going to be for a strong dollar? Are you going to lower regulation? I need to hear that from [former Florida Gov.] Jeb [Bush] and [Wisconsin Gov.] Scott Walker and all the others," he said.
"I'm waiting to hear whether these guys are economic growth candidates because … growth stinks. It's 2 percent for 15 years. That's not America and we have to fix that.
"That's why people are in a bad mood. So are these guys going to talk about economic growth policies? That's what I'm listening for."
On the Democratic front, Kudlow — who hosts the nationally syndicated radio program, "The Larry Kudlow Show" — said he isn't sure where Vice President Joe Biden would fit in were he to challenge Hillary Clinton.
"If he runs, he's going to run against Hillary and they're both going to basically be saying the same things, aren't they? They're going to be defending Barack Obama's policies," Kudlow said.
"It's going to be more distribution, it's going to be more tax the rich, it's going to be more big healthcare, it's going to be more EPA. I mean, that's what I don't get in a Biden candidacy.
"Unless he wants to strike out, go after her on the email secrecy and Benghazi and things of that sort, but they're both basically running as loyal 'Obamacons' and I just don't see the mission there."
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