ABSTRACT
The large size and complexity of the present Soviet economy in itself immensely complicates the task of the central planners, irrespective of the nationality factor. In general, the preponderance of the titular nationality has increased in the republics of Central Asia and Transcaucasia and decreased in Latvia and Estonia. On this criterion, the use of republican data to examine the fortunes of their titular nationalities would seem reasonable for all groups except the Kazakhs and possibly the Kirghiz and Latvians. In addition to the pace of economic growth in the republics, it would be important to establish the relative levels of development achieved. Initially, Stalin resolved the issue by establishing a highly centralized form of economic administration, with ever more numerous central ministries organized along sectoral lines and with planning authority centered in Moscow in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics Gosplan.
