Centrally planned economies (CPEs) account for about a third of the world's population and about a fourth of its output. In view of their importance in the world economy, they need to be included in international comparitive studies. Their inclusion, however, presents problems for several reasons. First, CPEs report net material product, not gross national product (GNP). Also, their prices are set and exchange rates are set administratively, so that conversion to dollars is problematic. Finally, they compute growth rates using methods that in most cases are strongly upward biased. This report tries to identify and evaluate alternative methods for computing the levels and growth rates of the GNPs of centrally planned economies and to undertake illustrative benchmark year computations.

In the 1930s, Américo Paredes, the renowned folklorist, wrote a novel set to the background of the struggles of Texas Mexicans to preserve their property, culture and identity in the face of Anglo-American migration to and growing dominance over the Rio Grande Valley. Episodes of guerilla warfare, land grabs, racism, jingoism, and abuses by the Texas Rangers make this an adventure novel as well as one of reflection on the making of modern day Texas. George Washington GÑmez is a true precursor of the modern Chicano novel.