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

[Alice Keane]

Great points, Marielle! (Although Krugman is a Keynes fan and is the rare
economist who mentions Bloomsbury, there is a wee bit of an (accidental?)
implication in his op-ed that writing Woolfish fiction isn’t “work,” or is
“leisure,” or isn’t something that “pays”…)

All best,
Alice

On Sat, Aug 20, 2022 at 9:11 AM Marielle O'Neill (1806529) PHD <
M.ONeill at leedstrinity.ac.uk> wrote:

> 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!3bAK0_pcjDqweyNqgjm-piW3e_fuKcrvz05PG33WSvQ4PDbWnyC-ET9vmONHf2WF02iqMR_O-Qcryz7VV5CC$  
>
>
>
> 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> 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!3bAK0_pcjDqweyNqgjm-piW3e_fuKcrvz05PG33WSvQ4PDbWnyC-ET9vmONHf2WF02iqMR_O-QcrywPO9471$  
> <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$>
>
>
>
> All my best,
>
> Alice
>
>
>
> On Sat, Aug 20, 2022 at 7:34 AM Marielle O'Neill (1806529) PHD <
> M.ONeill at leedstrinity.ac.uk> wrote:
>
> Hi Alice,
>
>
>
> Thanks for sharing. Can you please cut & paste or share the article
> somehow as I can't access it not being a subscriber.
>
>
>
> Warm wishes,
>
> Marielle
>
>
>
>
>
> Ms Marielle O’Neill
> Postgraduate Researcher, Leeds Trinity University
> Executive Council Member, Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain
> M.ONeill at leedstrinity.ac.uk
> https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.virginiawoolfsociety.org.uk/events/__;!!KGKeukY!3bAK0_pcjDqweyNqgjm-piW3e_fuKcrvz05PG33WSvQ4PDbWnyC-ET9vmONHf2WF02iqMR_O-Qcry3jFe93Z$  
> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__http:/www.virginiawoolfsociety.org.uk/events/__;!!P1DuySc54599!v1H4UMA4rwigKAsgDZDsKjxND-jUOpYj2IDhhSVsoWEVinnApoBF9I8DhQpyRqxLpw349HmpEarOeXNA8kiA3DPI$>
> She/Her
> ------------------------------
>
> *From:* Vwoolf <vwoolf-bounces at lists.osu.edu> on behalf of Alice Keane
> via Vwoolf <vwoolf at lists.osu.edu>
> *Sent:* Saturday, August 20, 2022 12:26 PM
> *To:* vwoolf listerve <vwoolf at lists.osu.edu>
> *Subject:* [Vwoolf] "Wonking Out: Virginia Woolf and Core Inflation" --
> Paul Krugman coins "the Virginia Woolf effect" in yesterday's New York Times
>
>
>
> “Interesting questions, best pondered, I think, at leisure in a room of
> one’s own": https: //www. nytimes.
> com/2022/08/19/opinion/housing-inflation-rents-boom. html Best, Alice Alice
> Keane Adjunct Assistant Professor Department of English
>
> “Interesting questions, best pondered, I think, at leisure in a room of
> one’s own":
>
>
>
>
> https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/19/opinion/housing-inflation-rents-boom.html__;!!KGKeukY!3bAK0_pcjDqweyNqgjm-piW3e_fuKcrvz05PG33WSvQ4PDbWnyC-ET9vmONHf2WF02iqMR_O-Qcryy4X71um$  
> <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
>
>
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