This paper explores and develops three ideas: (1) that the aridity of western North America and its attendant characteristics have fundamentally shaped the work of western agricultural economists and encouraged some distinctive western contributions to the study of economics; (2) that, in order...

This paper uses PSID data for 1989, 1994, and 1999 to examine why some U.S. households are asset poor, i.e., why households have insufficient resources to invest in their future or to sustain household members at a basic level during times of economic disruption. The study contributes to an...