What was going on when I was born?

A former economist with the Federal Reserve Board who left to work for a brokerage firm was charged today with illegally tapping the Federal Reserve's computer to obtain secret data about the nation's money supply. Federal officials said that soon after joining E. F. Hutton as a forecaster, the economist, Theode C. Langevin was caught by tracing the phone calls he made to the computer. Officials then let him tap into a computer programmed with phony money figures so that he could be caught ''with his hands in the cookie jar,'' an official said. Money supply data, if obtained in advance of its release each Friday by the Federal Reserve, would be of tremendous value to a forecaster working in a brokerage house that trades in stocks and bonds. Interest rates and yields of Government securities and bonds often move up or down when changes in the growth rate of the money supply are reported.

Years ago, when her husband was working as a clerk on the State Court of Appeals, Matilda Cuomo used to stand outside the wrought-iron fence of the Governor's Mansion and stare. ''I was in awe,'' she recalled. ''I would stand by the fence and I'd say, 'My gosh, that's where the Governor lives.' '' Today, in her fourth day as a resident of that mansion, Matilda Cuomo retains some of that awe. Drinking coffee served from a silver tray, she looked around her at the elegant living room and said, ''I think it's something like a dream that I find myself here.''

THE 1982 food year was one of fresh fads and fervid fitness, explored cuisines - Mexican and ''gourmet'' convenience foods'' among them - and expunged demons, namely salt and caffeine. Americans continued their helium-fueled search for lightness in everything from cereals and spaghetti sauce to wine -even that insouciant big guy on the block, Coca Cola, acknowledged that it was time to go on a diet. It was a year when old infatuations faded (nouvelle cuisine conceits) and new phoenixes rose from their crumbs (new American cuisine). It was also a year that spawned everything from the fanciful (spinach bubblegum, kosher tofu) to the fatuous (Paul Newman Salad Dressing). Certainly the soaring interest in Mexican food in a recession year can be attributed, at least in part, to the fact that it is so economical. Yet despite the recession, Americans seemed more willing than ever to experiment. According to Progressive Grocer, a trade magazine that monitors food spending, Americans were expected to spend about $252 billion in groceries during 1982, an increase of about 5 percent over 1981. Taking into account the softening of inflation, that is considered not only a more than respectable growth, according to food industry analysts, but also an indication that there is room for new and exotic foods.

With the international banking system in crisis and with domestic competition intensifying, the National Westminster Bank, the world's ninth largest in terms of assets, is undergoing a changing of the guard. Since last August, the retirement of a handful of senior executives has touched off promotions and job switches that leave nine of the bank's 11 top executives in new positions. And today, in the most important change, Philip Wilkinson, a solid, silver-haired man who describes himself as ''not all that colorful,'' moved up to the post of chief executive officer. He succeeds W.J. Benson, who becomes deputy chairman in place of the retiring Alex Dibbs.

FOR those who love their food rich and calorific, January, not April, is the cruelest month. This is the month of reckoning, the time when recipes calling for heavy cream, chocolate, sugar and perhaps even Champagne, truffles and caviar, are replaced by those calling for broccoli, turnips, pinto beans and oranges. It is the month for retrenching or following new resolutions, for saying ''Enough!'' to superrich dishes. People who forsook their diets at Thanskgiving and never quite returned know that now they have to pay the piper. There is a good side of all this. Turning away from chocolate mousse cake and filet mignon to fruit salad and ground turkey is not only a boon to the waistline, it is also a boon to the budget, as well as an opportunity to save time in the kitchen.

An article on the Washington Talk page yesterday incorrectly identified the organization for which Frank C. Carlucci, retiring Deputy Secretary of Defense, expects to direct a study of structural problems in the Federal budget. It is the Hudson Institute.

Tens of thousands of 1980 General Motors Xcars now on the road have a hazardous tendency to lock their rear brakes, two Government tests indicate. Hundreds of car owners have complained, and General Motors and Federal safety officials have known about the hazardous condition for more than three years. However, only a fraction of the cars have been recalled to be repaired at company expense. Company and Government officials say the modest recall was all that was necessary. Spokesmen for General Motors and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration would not comment specifically on the brake matter because aspects of that problem are now in court and under investigation. But Raymond A. Peck Jr., the director of the safety administration, did defend the agency's performance.

President Reagan was portrayed as standing firm on his budget despite fresh warnings from Senate Republicans that he must ease military spending. If not, according to Senator Paul Laxalt, Mr. Reagan's closest ally in Congress, the nation faces ''terrifying'' deficits. (Page A1.) The Congressional Budget Office and the Federal Reserve are forecasting a slow recovery this year. (D11.) Assumptions underlying 1977 changes in Social Security appear to have been far too optimistic. The changes, meant to place the system on a sound financial footing, were based on Carter Administration forecasts relecting its hopes of an economic turnaround by the 1980 election. (A1.) Senator Bob Dole discussed further changes needed in the system with two Democrats. (B20.)

International Violence flared in Tripoli, Lebanon, where thousands of civilians have fled to shelters and essential services have been severely disrupted. Reports from the port city said that competing Moslem militias were bombarding one another with artillery fire in many sections, including residential areas. (Page A1, Column 1.) Britain's ties with Saudi Arabia, a major trading partner, have been jeopardized by London's refusal to permit a meeting with an Arab delegation that included a representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization. In retaliation, the Saudis have announced that a proposed trip to Riyadh by the Foreign Secretary, Francis Pym, would ''not be convenient'' now. (A8:1-3.)

The International Monetary Fund is expected to approve a $900 million loan to Chile at a meeting of its executive board next Monday, international monetary sources said today. The loan is the latest in a series for debt-laden Latin American countries, whose financial problems have been aggravated by the world economic slump and the price collapse of basic commodities like copper, which is Chile's principal product. The $900 million consists of $550 million in a two-year standby arrangement and $350 million that the I.M.F. would make available from a facility that helps its members that have trouble maintaining exports because of declining commodity prices. Talks Ended Last Month Negotiations over the loan conditions were concluded with a letter of intent initialed in Santiago last November. The accord, which now goes to the board of the 146-member lending organization for final approval, represented the second effort of the Chilean Government of Gen. Augusto Pinochet to get I.M.F. financing last year.

Tripoli, the northern Lebanese port city, was the scene of renewed clashes today between pro-Syrian and anti-Syrian Moslem militiamen. Thousands of civilians have been forced into shelters and essential services have been seriously disrupted. Reports from the city, Lebanon's second largest, with a population estimated at half a million, said the militia factions were heavily bombarding each other, including residential areas on both sides, with artillery fire. Large sections of Tripoli were without electricity, telephone communication and basic food, such as bread, according to the reports.

In 1978, Ramsey Clark, Melvin Wulf and Alan Levine set about to create a different kind of law firm. Clark, Wulf & Levine, its founders hoped, would represent only those committed to such interests as civil rights and civil liberties, peace, the poor, criminal justice, education and the environment. It would charge fees people could afford. And, in an age of growing alienation in the profession, the firm's lawyers, though poorly paid by Wall Street standards, would at least feel good about their work.