About Us
Arun Raha, Ph.D., Executive Director and Chief Economist
Arun Raha is Chief Economist for the State of Washington and Executive Director of the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council. He is responsible for preparation and presentation of quarterly forecasts of Washington’s economy and General-Fund revenues. He also advises state legislative committees and other government agencies regarding economic and revenue activity in the state.
Dr. Raha was formerly Vice-President, Economic Research, at Swiss Re in New York, a leading global reinsurer, headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland. There he was responsible for forecasts of North American macroeconomic, financial, and property-casualty insurance markets. He also worked closely with Connecticut based Conning Asset Management which was part of the Swiss Re Group.
Prior to that, he was Manager of Economic Analysis at Eaton Corporation, a global diversified industrial manufacturer in Cleveland, Ohio.
Arun has won two national forecasting awards - The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago’s top overall forecast prize for 2007, and the Wall Street Journal’s forecasting award in January 2005.
Arun Raha has served on the Ohio Governor’s Council of Economic Advisors, and is a former member of the Board of the Automotive Market Research Council.
He has a Ph.D. in Economics from Washington State University, and a Masters from the Delhi School of Economics.