thorvaldur has been active in international policy debate as a research fellow at cesifo (center for economic studies) at the university of munich, research associate at the center for u.s.-japan business and economic studies at new york university, and fellow of the european economic association. he was senior research fellow at the institute for international economic studies at stockholm university in 1978-1996, and research fellow at cepr (centre for economic policy research) in london in 1987-2009. in recent years, he has been a frequent consultant to the international monetary fund and also the world bank, the european commission, and the european free trade association (efta). he was chairman of the failed icelandic bank kaupthing from 1986 to 1990.