New Mexico and Arizona joined the Union in 1912, despite the opposition from some of their residents. The Fiscal Case against Statehood examines the concerns of the people who lost the battle over statehood in the two territories. Moussalli examines their territorial and early state governments' fiscal behavior and reveals that while their fears of steep increases in the cost of government were well-founded, statehood also significantly improved their governments' accountability for their use of the public purse. She concludes that fiscal officials enabled statehood's growth in government by...