[Vwoolf] "Wonking Out: Virginia Woolf and Core Inflation" -- Paul Krugman coins "the Virginia Woolf effect" in yesterday's New York Times

[Alice Keane]

Hi Marielle,



US copyright law is problematic -- about screenshotting or copying and
pasting whole articles to a listserv. Here are the VW-relevant excerpts
from Krugman's piece (they're short enough to be within the scope of fair
use).



“So what is going on? The most likely explanation is that the Covid
pandemic increased the demand for personal space. Part of this was the
sudden surge in working from home, which seems to be sticking even as much
of life returns to normal. And working from home is a lot easier if you
have enough space to get some privacy and quiet. In a famous essay,
Virginia Woolf argued that to write fiction, a woman must have “money and a
room of her own.” Remote work isn’t fiction (at least it isn’t supposed to
be), and it pays — but a room of one’s own, or at least some personal
space, is nonetheless essential.



More generally, the limitations the pandemic created for public life — on
sitting in restaurants and coffee shops, browsing through stores, hanging
out at the gym and more — may have made living quarters that previously
seemed adequate feel cramped. A lot of public life has returned, but
there’s a lingering desire for more square footage.



Hence a surge in demand for living space — call it the Virginia Woolf
effect — which has probably driven the surge in market rents.



[….]



And this may create a dilemma for policymakers. The Fed believes
(correctly, I think) that the U.S. economy is running too hot and needs to
be cooled off; it uses core inflation as a way to measure that overheating.
But housing is a large part of core inflation. And pretty soon we’re likely
to have a situation in which official measures of housing costs are rising
although we no longer have a hot economy, because official measures are
still catching up with the Virginia Woolf effect.



In such a situation, I’d argue, it would no longer make sense for the Fed
to maintain tight monetary policy, even though its standard inflation
measure is still elevated. But will the Fed be willing to make that
judgment? Even if it understands what’s happening, will it worry that
taking account of the lagged nature of official statistics will be seen as
making excuses and damage its credibility?



Interesting questions, best pondered, I think, at leisure in a room of
one’s own.”



All my best,

Alice

On Sat, Aug 20, 2022 at 7:56 AM Marielle O'Neill (1806529) PHD <
M.ONeill at leedstrinity.ac.uk> wrote:

> Sorry to be a pain. I still can’t access it. I apparently have used my
> limit of free NYT articles.
>
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Marielle
>
>
>
> *From:* Alice Keane <akeane at umich.edu>
> *Sent:* 20 August 2022 12:55
> *To:* Marielle O'Neill (1806529) PHD <M.ONeill at leedstrinity.ac.uk>;
> vwoolf listerve <vwoolf at lists.osu.edu>
> *Subject:* Re: [Vwoolf] "Wonking Out: Virginia Woolf and Core Inflation"
> -- Paul Krugman coins "the Virginia Woolf effect" in yesterday's New York
> Times
>
>
>
> Hi Marielle,
>
>
>
> Yes, here is a gift link (I believe it will be available for 14 days).
> Fair warning, the title is the most scintillating part of the article...
>
>
>
>
> https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/19/opinion/housing-inflation-rents-boom.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage&section=Opinion*20Columnists__;JQ!!KGKeukY!0iXWKTSOpEcopRNipoYpmkwcircMO8HYGwKevzcjG-MqYa6EiZZZSfQ3yEBY8HBngqzaUhd-hkgWAdZbkL7A$  
> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.nytimes.com/2022/08/19/opinion/housing-inflation-rents-boom.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage&section=Opinion*20Columnists__;JQ!!P1DuySc54599!v1H4UMA4rwigKAsgDZDsKjxND-jUOpYj2IDhhSVsoWEVinnApoBF9I8DhQpyRqxLpw349HmpEarOeXNA8i0ppv1Z$>
>
>
>
> All my best,
>
> Alice
>
>
>
> On Sat, Aug 20, 2022 at 7:34 AM Marielle O'Neill (1806529) PHD <
> M.ONeill at leedstrinity.ac.uk> wrote:
>
> Hi Alice,
>
>
>
> Thanks for sharing. Can you please cut & paste or share the article
> somehow as I can't access it not being a subscriber.
>
>
>
> Warm wishes,
>
> Marielle
>
>
>
>
>
> Ms Marielle O’Neill
> Postgraduate Researcher, Leeds Trinity University
> Executive Council Member, Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain
> M.ONeill at leedstrinity.ac.uk
> https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.virginiawoolfsociety.org.uk/events/__;!!KGKeukY!0iXWKTSOpEcopRNipoYpmkwcircMO8HYGwKevzcjG-MqYa6EiZZZSfQ3yEBY8HBngqzaUhd-hkgWARxjdMS2$  
> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__http:/www.virginiawoolfsociety.org.uk/events/__;!!P1DuySc54599!v1H4UMA4rwigKAsgDZDsKjxND-jUOpYj2IDhhSVsoWEVinnApoBF9I8DhQpyRqxLpw349HmpEarOeXNA8kiA3DPI$>
> She/Her
> ------------------------------
>
> *From:* Vwoolf <vwoolf-bounces at lists.osu.edu> on behalf of Alice Keane
> via Vwoolf <vwoolf at lists.osu.edu>
> *Sent:* Saturday, August 20, 2022 12:26 PM
> *To:* vwoolf listerve <vwoolf at lists.osu.edu>
> *Subject:* [Vwoolf] "Wonking Out: Virginia Woolf and Core Inflation" --
> Paul Krugman coins "the Virginia Woolf effect" in yesterday's New York Times
>
>
>
> “Interesting questions, best pondered, I think, at leisure in a room of
> one’s own": https: //www. nytimes.
> com/2022/08/19/opinion/housing-inflation-rents-boom. html Best, Alice Alice
> Keane Adjunct Assistant Professor Department of English
>
> “Interesting questions, best pondered, I think, at leisure in a room of
> one’s own":
>
>
>
>
> https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/19/opinion/housing-inflation-rents-boom.html__;!!KGKeukY!0iXWKTSOpEcopRNipoYpmkwcircMO8HYGwKevzcjG-MqYa6EiZZZSfQ3yEBY8HBngqzaUhd-hkgWAUxYi8Jr$  
> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.nytimes.com/2022/08/19/opinion/housing-inflation-rents-boom.html__;!!KGKeukY!wvZqtPNOb2sTAjWVv27x8XzK-i8yKc_69BBL6JmKr1zimDQHmAyDR3Cq2ov23t9Dppynt97hvrsvk3-b12XW$>
>
>
>
> Best,
>
> Alice
>
>
>
> Alice Keane
>
> Adjunct Assistant Professor
>
> Department of English
>
> Queens College, CUNY
>
>
>
> Alice.Keane at qc.cuny.edu
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.osu.edu/pipermail/vwoolf/attachments/20220820/f708f575/attachment-0001.html>