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

Sat Aug 20 09:08:51 EDT 2022

Dear Alice,

Thanks for sharing those relevant excerpts.

This links to what I said at a Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain’s online seminar on On Being Ill in January 2021 and in a speech at the Amsterdam book launch of On Being Ill (2021, Hetmoet Press) last November

The Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain did a social media project for International Women’s Day 2021 where readers shared photos of their own ‘room of one’s own’ to show how acutely relevant the text is given that women’s work is being so squeezed and undervalued, and space is at a premium with working and schooling taking place in the home which is, of course, heightened by both the housing and cost of living crisis we are now facing.

See:
https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://bloggingwoolf.org/2021/03/01/share-your-room-of-your-own-for-international-womens-day/__;!!KGKeukY!zatBnlGXb7zv3JISWVf6ytrZ5zc78Hbosu7xEBvZxsBYEsAbU-FlOyjsg5fOdI-zyPqDh9E7ARhgdb6rYA6k753gEw3wDg$  

The photos can be seen on the VWSGB’s social media channels if people scroll back to March 2021.

Facebook: @VWSGB
Twitter: @VirginiaWoolfGB
Instagram: @virginiawoolfsociety

Thanks, and warm wishes,
Marielle

From: Alice Keane <akeane at umich.edu>
Sent: 20 August 2022 13:35
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,

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<mailto: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<mailto:akeane at umich.edu>>
Sent: 20 August 2022 12:55
To: Marielle O'Neill (1806529) PHD <M.ONeill at leedstrinity.ac.uk<mailto:M.ONeill at leedstrinity.ac.uk>>; vwoolf listerve <vwoolf at lists.osu.edu<mailto: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!zatBnlGXb7zv3JISWVf6ytrZ5zc78Hbosu7xEBvZxsBYEsAbU-FlOyjsg5fOdI-zyPqDh9E7ARhgdb6rYA6k752fLaFQ1Q$  <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<mailto: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<mailto:M.ONeill at leedstrinity.ac.uk>
https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.virginiawoolfsociety.org.uk/events/__;!!KGKeukY!zatBnlGXb7zv3JISWVf6ytrZ5zc78Hbosu7xEBvZxsBYEsAbU-FlOyjsg5fOdI-zyPqDh9E7ARhgdb6rYA6k753pyJJqXQ$  <https://urldefense.com/v3/__http:/www.virginiawoolfsociety.org.uk/events/__;!!P1DuySc54599!v1H4UMA4rwigKAsgDZDsKjxND-jUOpYj2IDhhSVsoWEVinnApoBF9I8DhQpyRqxLpw349HmpEarOeXNA8kiA3DPI$>
She/Her
________________________________
From: Vwoolf <vwoolf-bounces at lists.osu.edu<mailto:vwoolf-bounces at lists.osu.edu>> on behalf of Alice Keane via Vwoolf <vwoolf at lists.osu.edu<mailto:vwoolf at lists.osu.edu>>
Sent: Saturday, August 20, 2022 12:26 PM
To: vwoolf listerve <vwoolf at lists.osu.edu<mailto: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!zatBnlGXb7zv3JISWVf6ytrZ5zc78Hbosu7xEBvZxsBYEsAbU-FlOyjsg5fOdI-zyPqDh9E7ARhgdb6rYA6k752FMnqM6A$  <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<mailto:Alice.Keane at qc.cuny.edu>
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