Background
He is the son of Jon Bjarnason, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries (2009-2011).
He is the son of Jon Bjarnason, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries (2009-2011).
Ásgeir Jónsson received a Bachelor of Science degree in economics from the University of Iceland in 1994. He received the Master of Science degree in economics from Indiana University in 1997 and the Doctor of Philosophy degree from the same university in 2001.
Jónsson has been a notable contributor to the Icelandic policy debate during the boom and crisis periods. Currently, Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Iceland and an economic adviser at GAMMA. During the 2000s Jónsson was the Chief economist for Kaupthing Bank and head of its analytic department. After the Icelandic banking collapse he wrote a book on the crisis.
Danielsson and Jónsson (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.
