087: Asgeir B. Torfason on the Economy of Iceland and Explaining Negative Cashflows in Banks

Asgeir B. Torfason is Assistant Professor in the School of Business at the University of Iceland where he teaches Finance, Accounting and Financial Statement Analysis. Asgeir is also Postdoc Research Fellow, as well as an Assistant Professor at Gothenburg Research Institute.

Asgeir defended his PhD at Gothenburg University in May 2014 with dissertation: Cash Flow Accounting in Banks – A study of practice.

His research combines bank management, finance theory, monetary economics and accounting studies.

Previous research has focused on asset values and long-term investment in real estate, a field where Asgeir has extensive practical experience, covering the Nordics as VP for a REIT listed on NYSE.

Prior to that he worked in university management after getting an MBA from Norwegian Business School in Oslo, and studied earlier Philosophy and Economics in Iceland.

Economics:

In this episode, Asgeir mentions: Iceland’s economy, IT bubble, Tulip Mania, banks, capital controls, devaluation, tourism, resources, trade, cashflows, assets, liabilities, revenue, equity, income statements, bankruptcy, lending, negative cashflows, money multiplier, reserve requirement, central banks, quantitative easing, swap lines and housing bubbles.

Economists:

In this episode, Asgeir mentions: Joseph Schumpeter, John Maynard Keynes, Hyman Minsky, Perry G Mehrling, 

Links:

• Economics of Money andBanking, Part One by Perry G Mehrling
• Economics of Money andBanking, Part Two by Perry G Mehrling
• Money View by Institute for New Economic Thinking
• Katharina Pistor, Professor of Law at Columbia Law School

Papers:

• The difference between cash flows in banks and non-financial firms by Asgeir B. Torfason
• Methods for Making Sense of Cash Flow in Banks by Asgeir B. Torfason
• Cash flow accounting in banks – a study of practice (PhD) by Asgeir B. Torfason

Books:

• The New Lombard Street: How the Fed Became the Dealer of Last Resort by Perry Mehrling
• Lombard Street-A Description of the Money Market by Walter Bagehot
• Manias, Panics and Crashes: A History of Financial Crises, Sixth Edition by Charles P. Kindleberger
• The Economic Consequences of the Peace by John Maynard Keynes

Where to Find Asgeir:

• Twitter:  @asgeirbt
• About.me

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