“Rich people in poor places want to show off their wealth. And their less affluent counterparts feel pressure to fake it, at least in public. Nobody wants the stigma of being thought poor.”

American journalist and author

Virginia Postrel is an American journalist and author who writes about commerce, culture, and technology. She is known for essays and commentary on how these areas shape modern life. She is a contributing editor at Works in Progress and co-hosts the podcast Everyday Abundance. Her work often focuses on the meeting point of markets, ideas, and everyday life, with a clear interest in how people make sense of change.