Iceland´s Recovery—Lessons and Challenges, Harpa Conference Center (Reykjavík), October 27, 2011

Reykjavík, Iceland, October 27, 2011

Iceland´s Recovery—Lessons and Challenges

Session III: Challenges Ahead

What needs to be done to secure Iceland’s full emergence from the crisis? For example, reducing unemployment, unwinding capital controls, securing access to financial markets. What further action is needed to address outstanding challenges.

CHAIR

Þorvaldur Gylfason

Þorvaldur Gylfason is Professor of Economics at University of Iceland

PARTICIPANTS

	Gylfi Magnússon Gylfi Magnússon is associate professor at the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration at the University of Iceland More Gylfi Magnússon got his Ph.D. in Economics from Yale University in 1997. He has been on the faculty of the University of Iceland since 1996. His teaching and research has covered several subfields of economics but lately mainly finance. Dr. Magnússon served as Iceland’s Minister of Business Affairs and later Minister of Economic Affairs in 2009 and 2010. He was one of two cabinet ministers without a political affiliation. He has also served in various administrative positions at the University of Iceland, chaired Iceland’s competition authority and served on several government committees and corporate boards.
	Simon Johnson Simon Johnson is Professor of Global Economics and Management. Prof. Johnson is the Ronald A. Kurtz (1954) Professor of Entrepreneurship at MIT Sloan School of Management. More He is also a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, D.C., a co-founder of BaselineScenario.com (a much cited website on the global economy), a member of the Congressional Budget Office's Panel of Economic Advisers, and a member of the FDIC’s Systemic Resolution Advisory Committee. Prof. Johnson is a weekly contributor to NYT.com's Economix, is a regular Bloomberg columnist, has a monthly article with Project Syndicate that runs in publications around the world, and has published high impact opinion pieces recently in The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, The New Republic, BusinessWeek, and The Financial Times, among other places. In January 2010, he joined The Huffington Post as contributing business editor. Professor Johnson is the co-author, with James Kwak, of 13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and The Next Financial Meltdown, a bestselling assessment of the dangers now posed by the US financial sector (published by Pantheon in March 2010). Simon Johnson was Economic Counsellor and Director of the Research Department at the IMF from March 2007-August 2008. Mr. Johnson was on leave from the Sloan School of Management at MIT, where he was the Ronald A. Kurtz Professor of Entrepreneurship. Mr. Johnson is an expert on the financial sector and economic crises. Over the past 20 years he has worked on crisis prevention and mitigation, as well as economic growth issues in advanced, emerging market, and developing countries. His work focuses on how policymakers can limit the impact of negative shocks and manage the risks faced by their countries. His PhD is in economics from MIT, while his MA is from the University of Manchester and his BA is from the University of Oxford.
	Finnur Oddsson Finnur Oddsson, Managing Director, Icelandic Chamber of Commerce More Dr. Oddsson works with many of Iceland's largest organizations, public and private, in various capacities. Prior to his current post he was Director of MBA Programs at Reykjavik University, and Director of Executive Education and Assistant Professors.
	Julie Kozack Julie Kozack, a national of the United States, is currently a Deputy Division Chief in the European Department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the mission chief for Iceland. More Ms. Kozack has been with the IMF since 1999 and has worked on a wide range of policy and country issues. Before her work on Iceland, she covered both country and policy issues. Her country experience spans from Russia (2006, 2009-2010) and Uruguay (2003-2004) to Kenya (2000-2002) and the Kyrgyz Republic (1999-2000). She also has experience in global policy issues through her work in the Research Department of the IMF during the global financial crisis of 2008-09. Ms. Kozack has also studied Sovereign Wealth Funds, sovereign debt restructuring, and crisis resolution issues. Prior to joining the IMF, Ms. Kozack received a Ph.D. in economics from Columbia University in New York City.