She received her PhD in economics at American University. She is the author of three books: The Political Economy of the Family Farm: The Agrarian Roots of American Capitalism; The Cost of Being Female, coauthored with Margery Elfin; and A Year Inside the Beltway: Making Economic Policy in Washington. She is the author of two articles: “Income and Wealth Transfer Effects of Discrimination in Employment: The Case of African Americans, 1972–1990,” in The Review of Black Political Economy, and “Economic History, Western Europe,” in the Elgar Companion to Feminist Economics.