Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Sunday she has not “ruled out” a run for president in 2028 as the Democratic Party‘s left flank surges in midterm primaries across the country.

“I haven’t ruled out the possibility, and I’m very humbled [by] the tremendous amount of support out there,” Ocasio-Cortez said when asked about a potential run on ABC’s “This Week.” “I think that we have a responsibility to remain focused on the midterms and not on our individual aspirations.”

The New York Democrat, who has represented parts of the Bronx and Queens since 2019, has emerged as a polling favorite in key states ahead of the 2026 midterms. She has also become a power broker on the left, criss-crossing the country with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who came up short in the last two presidential primaries.

A recent poll from the University of New Hampshire found Ocasio-Cortez leading the field in the Granite State, ahead of former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz.

Ocasio-Cortez also did not rule out a potential run for Senate in 2028, when Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is up for reelection.

“I think that anything is possible at this juncture,” she said.

Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Anna Paulson said Tuesday that she thinks the current level of interest rates is sufficient to keep inflation moving toward the central bank’s goal.

In her first CNBC interview, the policymaker insisted she has an open mind about where monetary policy should go, but was confident in her vote last week to keep the Fed’s benchmark borrowing rate anchored at its current target level of 3.5%-3.75%.

“I think we need … policy that’s mildly restrictive, and I think policy has been mildly restrictive to get underlying inflation back down to 2% in an acceptable time period,” Paulson told CNBC’s Steve Liesman during a “Squawk Box” interview. “I need to see progress from here.”

The level of restriction that the current policy level is having on the economy is a key debate point for Fed officials, who have held rates steady all year as inflation has stayed well above the 2% target.

At last week’s meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee, of which Paulson is a voting member, opted by a 9-3 tally to keep the hold on rates. Dissenting voters questioned whether the current rate level is sufficiently restrictive to bring inflation lower.

However, Paulson said voting with the majority wasn’t a tough decision.

“For me, it was not a close call,” she said, adding that she thinks underlying inflation outside of energy supply shocks, tariffs and other factors is around 2.4%-2.8%. The core inflation level that the Fed uses as its primary forecasting tool was 3.3% in June, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

If that level doesn’t move lower, then Paulson said she’ll be open to adjusting rates.

“Maybe there was a little bit of mild progress over the last several months, but I want to see more progress on that, and that’s what I’m really focused on,” she said. “If we don’t see that progress, then we have to be open to recalibrating monetary policy. You know, we need to get to 2%.”

Paulson added she is keeping an “open mind” about some of the changes Chairman Kevin Warsh has discussed, including the potential to reduce the frequency of FOMC meetings from the current level of eight per year.

“It’s healthy to have a discussion about that,” she said.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung invoked Japan’s epochal property crash in the early 1990s, stoking concerns about Seoul’s real estate market as he prepares to revise taxes aimed at stabilizing the housing sector.

Lee said “quite a few people” were concerned the country could face Japan’s “lost” 20 or 30 years, according to a CNBC translation. Lee was referring to Japan’s “lost decades,” when growth slowed following a real asset and stock market crash.

He pointed out in a public discussion on real estate policy Thursday that Tokyo’s housing market had “burst like a balloon” in the early 1990s, as he sought to highlight South Korea’s overheating real estate market.

Real estate accounts for the largest share of South Korean household wealth, Lee added, saying data shows that South Korea is among the countries with the highest proportion of household wealth concentrated in real estate globally.

As of end-March 2025, real assets accounted for 75.8% of Korean household assets, compared with 24.2% for financial assets.

The South Korean president has a history of making bold calls.

Ahead of the 2025 presidential election, when the benchmark Kospi index was near 2,500, Lee, then a candidate, reportedly set a target of 5,000 for the Kospi during his term by pledging to resolve the so-called “Korea discount.”

The Kospi briefly crossed 5,000 in January 2026, just over six months after he took office, riding the AI-powered chip boom.

Lee’s government has tried to steer household wealth away from an overheated housing sector and into financial markets, a strategy which has only partially worked.

The South Korean benchmark now hovers at around 6,700, having experienced volatile swings due to the heavy dependence on heavyweights Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

“I think the probability of a real asset bubble burst in Korea is limited,” Kang Min Joo, senior economist for South Korea and Japan at ING, told CNBC.

She said that mortgage lending conditions have been relatively tight for several years, and authorities have maintained strict controls on loan-to-valuation and debt-to-income ratios. “While the LTV ratio was previously as high as 80%, it has fallen to below 40% and lower in Seoul area.”

The household debt-to-GDP ratio in the country stands at 90.14 as of 2024. Although it has fallen from the record high of 98.67 in 2021, it still is the second highest in Asia behind Australia.

Lee’s comments reflect concerns about the recent rise in housing prices, rather than a real asset bubble is about to burst, Kang said.

That view…

Dallas Federal Reserve President Lorie Logan, asserting that this week’s good inflation news wasn’t good enough, called Thursday for “modestly” higher interest rates to win a battle the central bank has been losing for the past five years.

A voting member this year on the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee, Logan insisted that inflation is still a major problem for U.S. households that demands action from policymakers. While other Fed officials have expressed a preference for higher rates if inflation metrics don’t improve, Logan’s is the most specific call for a hike.

“I currently believe modestly higher interest rates would better balance the outlook and risks for the FOMC’s dual mandate goals,” Logan said in prepared remarks for a speech in Houston. “Every month of above-target inflation has compounded the strain on Americans’ budgets.”

Earlier in the week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported some progress on that front: Consumer prices for June dropped 0.4%, the biggest monthly decline since April 2020, while wholesale prices slipped 0.3%. Both gauges benefited from slumping oil prices, though costs in several other key categories, most notably housing, also softened.

Still, Logan said there’s more work to do for the Fed to meet its 2% inflation goal. Despite the monthly decline, consumer prices rose 3.5% from a year ago, while wholesale costs increased 5.5%. Inflation has been above the central bank’s target since early 2021.

“One month of relief is not enough. It is time to finish the job of restoring price stability,” she said. “In monetary policy as in hockey, you have to skate where the puck is going. Unfortunately, inflation does not appear to be headed sustainably back all the way to 2 percent.”

Markets already expect the FOMC to raise its key overnight borrowing rate by a quarter percentage point later this year — possibly as soon as September, but more likely October, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tracker of fed funds futures pricing.

The committee next meets July 28-29, with traders pricing in just 12.3% odds of a hike.

Logan pointed to a number of widely cited gauges as well as alternative measures such as core prices less housing to show that inflation is mired well ahead of the Fed’s target even with the recent slide in energy prices and waning tariff impacts.

“If inflation is not heading all the way to 2 percent on its own, then at least some policy restriction is needed to help get it there,” she said. “If higher inflation becomes entrenched, we’d need sharper rate increases to bring it back to target, with a larger cost for the labor market. Better modest restriction now than severe restriction later.”

Logan did not specifically state that she would push for an increase at…

New York Federal Reserve President John Williams said Wednesday that he sees multiple signs that inflation has peaked, allowing the central bank to hold interest rates in place despite market expectations for a hike in coming months.

In a speech delivered to business leaders in his home district, Williams cited five reasons why he expects the latest price surge has run its course.

“There are encouraging reasons to expect that inflation has peaked and should edge down in coming quarters,” he said.

“I expect overall inflation to decline to around [3.25%] percent by year-end, then continue on a glide path toward our 2 percent goal in 2027 and land on target in 2028,” he later added.

Inflation spiked this year after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran in late February, sending oil prices spiraling higher. Williams cited the war, along with lingering tariff impacts and accelerated technology spending, as the primary drivers.

However, he sees signs that those factors, plus other inputs, are easing.

Specifically, there shouldn’t be “significant additional impulse” from tariffs as expiring duties are merely replaced by new ones. At the same time, the oil spike has “likely peaked and will come down closer to levels seen before” the fighting, he said.

Artificial intelligence investment also is seen as another contributor, but Williams said “imbalances” should “recede over time as more supply comes online.” He also cited the labor market as not a source of inflation, and concluded that inflation expectations also are “well-anchored,” giving the Fed policy breathing room.

“Growth in the economy is solid and on trend, and the labor market is likewise solid and stable,” he said. “But with inflation running high, it is imperative that we restore it to the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent longer-run goal on a sustained basis. The current stance of monetary policy is well positioned to do that.”

Nevertheless, markets still expect the Fed to hike as soon as September. By a narrow margin, Williams’ colleagues on the Federal Open Market Committee in June also penciled in one quarter-percentage-point increase by the end of the year.

The remarks come a day after the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that consumer prices posted an unexpectedly sharp 0.4% drop in June, taking the annual inflation rate down to 3.5%. It was the largest one-month price decline since April 2020, but still left the Fed well short of its inflation target.

Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh told the House Financial Services on Tuesday that the price drop did not represent a “mission accomplished” moment. “That is not my view,” he said.

Fresh off the release of a massive financial disclosure showing the president made more than $2 billion in 2025, Trump said his son, Eric Trump, handles his finances along with large financial institutions.

“It’s given to big firms … my son Eric handles it,” Trump said. “I don’t talk to him about things such as this. I think I’d be allowed to, I’m not sure even what the status is, but I don’t.”

Trump said Eric Trump “gives it into these like semi-blind trusts or blind trusts where people invest.” The White House has previously said Trump’s finances are managed by his children, and the president specified one of his five children.

Trump’s financial disclosures have sparked immense scrutiny over potential profiteering off the presidency. The White House has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

Trump’s disclosure also listed about $515 million from Trump-aligned World Liberty Financial token sales and $65 million from sales of equity in WLF’s holding company. Trump in the interview said there was “nothing illegal” and “nothing wrong” with the crypto venture.

Trump doubled down on his desire to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, even after the Supreme Court barred him from doing so for now.

The high court ruled earlier this week that Trump could not fire Cook for now because her legal challenge against her firing is still playing out. But the justices, in a 5-4 decision, left the door open to Cook being fired on the merits.

Trump wasn’t deterred by the decision, saying in the interview that he would oust Cook by “winning the…

Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari said Friday he has changed his outlook and now expects that one interest rate increase will be necessary this year.

In remarks just over a week after the Federal Open Market Committee voted to hold its benchmark rate steady, Kashkari said he sees a hike as likely this year as the economy continues to feel the hit from spiking inflation tied to fighting in the Middle East and other factors.

“In March, I had penciled in one rate cut by the end of the year. In June, I’ve changed that to one rate hike by the end of the year,” the policymaker said during a panel discussion at the Aspen Ideas Festival. “It’s a pencil, and so we’re going to have to see how the data comes in.”

A Commerce Department report earlier this week showed that the headline inflation rate as gauged by the Fed’s preferred measure rose to 4.1%, the highest since April 2023. Stripping out food and energy costs, core inflation was at 3.4%, also marking a high since October 2023.

Inflation has been above the Fed’s 2% goal for five years.

Kashkari said his approach to rates has shifted as he remains skeptical that the energy price-induced cost surges will abate soon as unease continues in the Middle East. President Donald Trump charged Friday that Iran has violated a ceasefire agreement.

“I don’t trust Iran to honor whatever agreement has been made,” he said. “There’s some evidence of overnight that they’re already reneging on it, so I certainly am not seeing all clear coming out of the Middle East, and that makes me cautious about feeling too good that the worst is behind us.”

While much of the inflation surge has been blamed on oil prices, Kashkari cited other factors.

“The inflation is being driven by supply dynamics, so whether it’s tariffs pushing up the price of goods that we buy from abroad, it’s the fertilizer that’s been disrupted because of the Strait of Hormuz and energy and oil prices from the Strait of Hormuz,” he said. “Then it’s also being driven by massive investment, hundreds of billions of dollars a year into data centers and all of the associated infrastructure that goes with that. Anything that touches those sectors, the prices are skyrocketing on those parts of the economy.”

Early comments from policymakers coming out of the Fed meeting suggest mixed views on the FOMC, of which Kashkari is a voting participant this year.

On Thursday, New York Fed President John Williams said he expects inflation to ease and he sees current policy well-positioned for current dynamics. At the same time, Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee told CNBC that he remains concerned about inflation but declined to speculate on where he sees rates heading.

Correction: Kashkari’s remarks were delivered Friday. An earlier version misstated…

The search for a new president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta — now entering its seventh month — is being watched carefully for how new Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh intends to reshape the interest rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee.

That process has shifted as Warsh has begun to put his stamp on the Fed. The Fed was considering candidates for Atlanta under then-Chair Jerome Powell, but the selection process was paused in part to allow Warsh to oversee the appointment, two people familiar with the hiring process told CNBC, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing search. Michael Faulkender, a former senior Treasury official under President Donald Trump, was subsequently considered for the position in Atlanta, the people said.

It isn’t clear if Faulkender is still a candidate.

The Atlanta Fed declined to comment on Faulkender or who is under consideration.

“Our committee is conducting a thorough and deliberate search for the next president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. We maintain our focus on selecting the best candidate to serve the Sixth District, while protecting the integrity of the process,” Greg Haile, chair of the Atlanta Fed board of directors and presidential search committee, said in an emailed statement. “We will provide relevant updates about this important leadership role when appropriate.”

The Fed and Faulkender declined to comment.

Warsh has promised “regime change” at the Fed, encompassing a rethink of rate-setting and balance sheet policy, communications and what data the Fed uses to gauge the economy. But he inherits a Fed whose membership was shaped by Powell and the chairs before him. Warsh has few immediate opportunities beyond the Atlanta job to bring allies onto the FOMC.

He recently announced five task forces to study what he wants to change. Those will be staffed by outside experts. No current Fed governors or presidents will be included on those task forces.

Warsh comes in facing questions about how independent he’ll be from Trump. But Warsh didn’t acquiesce at his first FOMC meeting last week to Trump’s demands for rapid rate cuts. 

Instead Warsh defied many analysts’ expectations with a hawkish press conference that prompted markets to raise their projections for interest rates.

Warsh could use the Atlanta appointment to further defy expectations and assert his independence from the administration.

The 12 regional Fed presidents are chosen through a back-and-forth process between the directors of the bank and the Board of Governors in Washington. That arrangement is the result of the Federal Reserve Act’s effort to balance the power of the Board in Washington and the influential New York Fed with additional regional representation. 

Typically, the local bank’s directors hire a search firm and come up with a list of candidates. After…

For the first time, the public is getting a look inside the long-awaited Obama Presidential Center ahead of its Juneteenth opening on Chicago’s South Side.

The sprawling, 19.3-acre, $850 million campus blends museum exhibits chronicling former President Barack Obama’s political rise and presidency with contemporary art, public gathering spaces, athletic facilities and a branch of the Chicago Public Library.

The center is also poised to redefine the scale of the modern presidential project, setting new marks for construction time, cost and admission price. A general museum ticket will cost $30, making it the most expensive presidential museum or library to visit.

Unlike the libraries of other modern presidents, the Obama center will not be operated by the National Archives and Records Administration. Instead, it will be privately run by the Obama Foundation. The distinction gives the center more freedom in how it presents stories and less red tape around funding. 

The center is also intended to serve as an economic engine for the surrounding community, from hiring local contractors to build the campus to drawing new investment to Chicago’s South Side and West Side neighborhoods.

— CNBC’s Frank Holland contributed to this report.