Harold Furchtgott-Roth

Senior Fellow and Director, Center for the Economics of the Internet

harold_furchtgott_roth

At A Glance:

Harold Furchtgott-Roth, former commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission, is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute.

Biography

Harold Furchtgott-Roth, former commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission, is a senior fellow at Hudson Institute, where he founded the Center on the Economics of the Internet and helped cofound the Forum for Intellectual Property. He is an adjunct professor of law at Brooklyn Law School and president of Furchtgott-Roth Economic Enterprises, an economic consulting firm. He has cofounded various businesses in the communications sector.

Dr. Furchtgott-Roth is the only economist to have served on the Federal Communications Commission. Nominated by President Clinton, he was unanimously confirmed by the Senate. Previously, he was chief economist for the House Committee on Commerce, where he was one of the principal staff members on legislation that became the Telecommunications Act of 1996. He has testified several times to Congress and has served on federal advisory committees.

Widely recognized as an expert in economics and the communications industry, Dr. Furchtgott-Roth has consulted to scores of different businesses and served on various advisory boards over the past two decades. He is the author or coauthor of four books and many research publications. His hundreds of op-eds and columns have been widely published. He is a member of the Legal Policy Advisory Board for the Washington Legal Foundation.

Dr. Furchtgott-Roth received a PhD in economics from Stanford University and an SB in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

 

Events
09
September 2026
Past Event
Transferring Spectrum from the Federal to the Non-federal Domain: The View from NTIA
Featured Speakers:
Tricia J. Paoletta
Thomas Hazlett
J. Gregory Sidak
Harold Furchtgott-Roth
Tower
09
September 2026
Past Event
Transferring Spectrum from the Federal to the Non-federal Domain: The View from NTIA

Join Hudson Institute's Center for the Economics of the Internet for a keynote address  given by Tricia Paoletta on the Trump administration's progress in managing and reallocating the electromagnetic radio frequency spectrum from the federal domain.

Tower
Featured Speakers:
Tricia J. Paoletta
Thomas Hazlett
J. Gregory Sidak
Harold Furchtgott-Roth
22
July 2026
Past Event
A Conversation on US Communications Law
Featured Speakers:
Harold Furchtgott-Roth
Robert M. McDowell
Kirk R. Arner
Arielle Roth
The seal for the Federal Communications Commission at FCC headquarters on February 18, 2026, in Washington, DC. (Getty Images)
22
July 2026
Past Event
A Conversation on US Communications Law

Join Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Robert McDowell for a discussion of the book and communications law with the authors, Harold Furchtgott-Roth, Kirk Arner, and Arielle Roth.

The seal for the Federal Communications Commission at FCC headquarters on February 18, 2026, in Washington, DC. (Getty Images)
Featured Speakers:
Harold Furchtgott-Roth
Robert M. McDowell
Kirk R. Arner
Arielle Roth
12
January 2026
Past Event
Securing America’s Communications Infrastructure: A Strategic Agenda for US Leadership
Featured Speakers:
Olivia Trusty
Harold Furchtgott-Roth
Getty Images
12
January 2026
Past Event
Securing America’s Communications Infrastructure: A Strategic Agenda for US Leadership

Hudson will host Federal Communications Commissioner Olivia Trusty for an address on the national security importance of America’s communications infrastructure.

Getty Images
Featured Speakers:
Olivia Trusty
Harold Furchtgott-Roth
04
November 2025
Past Event
Bad Money: How America Can Solve Perpetual Inflation
Featured Speakers:
Brendan Brown
Alex J. Pollock
Moderator:
Harold Furchtgott-Roth
Getty Images
04
November 2025
Past Event
Bad Money: How America Can Solve Perpetual Inflation

At Hudson, Senior Fellows Brendan Brown and Harold Furchtgott-Roth and Mises Institute Senior Fellow Alex Pollock will discuss the book’s findings and how gold-based monetary reform combined with the increased use of modern analytical tools can help end the inflationary spiral.

Getty Images
Featured Speakers:
Brendan Brown
Alex J. Pollock
Moderator:
Harold Furchtgott-Roth