Furchtgott-Roth Economic Enterprises

About Us

Harold Furchtgott-Roth
President

Mr. Furchtgott-Roth founded Furchtgott-Roth Economic Enterprises, an economic consulting firm, in 2003. From 2001-2003, Mr. Furchtgott-Roth was a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. From 1997 through 2001, Mr. Furchtgott-Roth served as a commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission. Before his appointment to the FCC, he was chief economist for the House Committee on Commerce and a principal staff member on the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

Mr. Furchtgott-Roth serves on the board of MRV Communications and Oneida Broadband, LLC. He serves on several advisory boards. He is the author of dozens of publications and has authored or coauthored four books. Mr. Furchtgott-Roth received a Ph.D. in economics from Stanford University and an S.B. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Diana Furchtgott-Roth
Partner

Diana Furchtgott-Roth is a senior fellow and director of the Center for Employment Policy at the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C. From 2003 to 2005 she served as chief economist at the U.S. Department of Labor. From 2001 to 2003 she was chief of staff and special adviser at the President’s Council of Economic Advisers.

From 1993 to 2001 Ms. Furchtgott-Roth was resident fellow and assistant to the president at the American Enterprise Institute, where she wrote articles and books on tax policy and labor economics. She is the coauthor of Women’s Figures: An Illustrated Guide to the Economics of Women in America (The AEI Press, 1999) and The Feminist Dilemma: When Success Is Not Enough (The AEI Press, 2001). She has been published in the Civil Rights Journal, the Journal of Regulation and Social Costs, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, and The Los Angeles Times, among others.

From 1991 to 1993 Ms. Furchtgott-Roth served in the White House as deputy executive director of the Domestic Policy Council and associate director of the Office of Policy Planning. From 1987 to 1991 she was an economist at the American Petroleum Institute, where she authored papers on energy and taxation. Ms. Furchtgott-Roth served as an economist on the staff of President Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisers from 1986 to 1987.

Ms. Furchtgott-Roth received her B.A. in economics from Swarthmore College, and her M.Phil. in economics from Oxford University.

Benedict Roth
Partner

Benedict Roth, head of the London office, is a financial risk management expert. He advises on all aspects of the valuation, risk assessment and risk management of trading and investment portfolios. These aspects might range from market risk assessment and credit risk review to risk system implementation, risk policy and regulatory review, and ongoing risk surveillance. Typical assignments might include reviews of hedge fund, investment advisor, prime broker or clearing broker performance, training in financial risk management and expert witness or mediation services on the valuation or suitability of structured investment products.

Mr Roth’s current focus is on the management of credit risk arising from derivative contracts. In addition, Mr Roth has a longstanding interest in the practical and cost-effective implementation, application and mis-application of different risk measurement methods and has published on this subject both in the professional and in the general financial press.

From 2001 to 2005 Mr Roth was deputy head of the market risk management group at WestLB AG in London, with particular responsibility for risk management of credit derivative, bond and cash trading in emerging markets and for credit spread value at risk modelling.

Prior to joining WestLB in 2001, Mr. Roth worked at Rabobank International in London. He established the necessary market risk and credit risk management infrastructure for a new derivative and financing business based on agricultural commodities. His efforts led to a number of innovative transactions, including the first provision of commodity risk management products to producers in developing countries, who previously had no access to international markets for hedging purposes.

From 1995 to 1996 Mr. Roth served as head of risk management at Caspian Securities, a start-up investment bank oriented specifically towards the global emerging markets. The battery of risk management standards and models which he implemented there were distinguished by their simplicity and cost-effectiveness, in contrast to the industry trends prevailing at the time.

Between 1984 and 1996 Mr. Roth worked at NatWest, then Britain’s second-largest banking institution, in the operations research group, the asset/liability management area and the fixed income trading area.

Mr. Roth received his B.A. and M.A. from Oxford and his M.Sce. from Stanford University.