Ásgeir Jónsson (born 21 June 1970) is an Icelandic economist, teacher and author. He has been a notable contributor to the Icelandic policy debate during the boom and crisis periods. He is the son of Jón Bjarnason, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries (2009-2011). He is the current governor of the

Central Bank of Iceland The Central Bank of Iceland (, ) is the central bank or reserve bank of Iceland. It is owned by the Icelandic government, and is administered by a governor and a seven-member supervisory board, elected by the country's parliament following ea ...

Career

Currently, Associate Professor of Economics at the

University of Iceland The University of Iceland ( ) is a public research university in Reykjavík, Iceland, and the country's oldest and largest institution of higher education. Founded in 1911, it has grown steadily from a small civil servants' school to a modern co ...

and an economic adviser at Virðing. During the 2000s Ásgeir was the

Chief economist Chief economist is a single-position job class having primary responsibility for the development, coordination, and production of economic and financial analysis. It is distinguished from the other economist positions by the broader scope of respons ...

for

Kaupthing Bank Kaupthing Bank (, ) was a major international Icelandic bank, headquartered in Reykjavík, Iceland. It was taken over by the Icelandic government during the 2008–2011 Icelandic financial crisis and the domestic Icelandic-based operations were ...

and head of its analytic department. After the Icelandic banking collapse he wrote a book on the crisis. In July 2019, he was appointed the governor of the

Education

Ásgeir received a BS degree in economics from the University of Iceland in 1994. He received the M.Sc. degree in economics from

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

in 1997 and the PhD degree from the same university in 2001.

Policy debate

Jón Daníelsson and Ásgeir (2005) addressed a problem in monetary policy associated with an appreciation of the exchange rate for the purpose of price stability which could perversely lead to increased financial instability by reducing the amount of regulatory capital. To counter this they suggested requiring bank capital arising from foreign currency lending to be denominated in the same foreign currency. Capital charges on bank lending would then also make monetary policy more effective as a counter-cyclical policy tool.

Personal life

Ásgeir is the son of Jón Bjarnason, the former Icelandic Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture, and Ingibjörg Kolka Bergsteinsdóttir.

References

External links

Webpage at University of Iceland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jonsson, Asgeir 1970 births Living people Governors of the Central Bank of Iceland Asgeir Jonsson