What was going on when I was born?

The often- bitter dissension within the Reagan Administration on economic policy has erupted anew over passages in a draft of the Economic Report of the President. The report is scheduled to be submitted to Congress on Thursday. The draft was written by Martin S. Feldstein, the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, the official who customarily plans and drafts the Economic Report. Most of the opposition is concentrated in the Treasury Department, a frequent adversary of Mr. Feldstein, and in the Commerce Department, which has supported Mr. Feldstein on some issues and fought him on others.

Brazil will receive $6.5 billion in new loans under an accord with commercial banks. Page 39. By CLYDE H. FARNSWORTH WASHINGTON, Jan. 27 - The Commerce Department has determined that the United States should impose high penalty duties on Brazilian steel that the department says is being shipped to this country at unfairly low prices. The penalty duties recommended in an internal staff memorandum could as much as double the selling price of the steel involved in the investigation. That steel, plate and sheet used mainly by the automobile and capital goods industries, is priced at $200 to $300 a ton, compared with about $500 for the domestic products.

The Mayor of Binghamton, N.Y., Juanita Crabb, attended a top-level Administration briefing of Republican mayors at the White House Thursday and shook hands with President Reagan at a reception today. Her presence was unexceptional in every way but one: She is a Democrat. And not only is Mrs. Crabb a Democrat, she presides over a Democratic city and is seeking a place as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, pledged to former Vice President Walter F. Mondale. The White House, it seems, made a mistake.

A computer in Texas containing the names, addresses and other detailed information about 80 million Americans is providing Walter F. Mondale with daily assistance in his drive for the Democratic Presidential nomination. Using information from the Texas computer that has been merged with computerized lists of telephone numbers and registered voters, Mondale supporters in New Hampshire have begun making thousands of calls each day attempting to identify voters who support the former Vice President or give signs that they might be persuaded to back him. Because of technical improvements in the last four years and the skill and experience of many of Mr. Mondale's key aides, experts from both parties believe the current computer effort of the Mondale for President Committee is more sophisticated than any other political campaign mounted in the United States, including the highly successful 1980 Republican drive to win the White House. But the Republican party, which for 10 years has been honing its computer expertise, is certain to wage an intense and highly competive technology struggle in the coming months.

State and Federal agencies joined efforts in the past year in a new, tougher fight against casinos suspected of skimming gambling winnings and passing the money to concealed owners in organized crime. The first target of this new crackdown is the Stardust hotel and casino, described by one Federal agent as a flagship of organized crime in Las Vegas. On Sept. 30, 1983, and again on Jan. 11, the Stardust and associated holdings were hit with Federal indictments charging skimming, a process by which some of the casino's profits are secretly diverted before they are entered on the books, and with hidden ownership. Also on Jan. 11, Allan D. Sachs, sole owner of record of Trans Sterling Inc., which controls the Stardust, Fremont and Sundance hotels and casinos, bowed to pressure from state gaming regulators who threatened to close the casinos and agreed to sell the company within 130 days. He and another Trans Sterling official also agreed to pay a $3 million fine for failing to halt skimming at the Stardust and waived their rights to appeal any action taken by the state against them.

A public dispute between Governor Cuomo and Attorney General Robert Abrams over the constitutionality of a sports-betting plan has revealed a wider disagreement between them over the role of the Attorney General. The Governor was described today by aides as furious at Mr. Abrams for criticizing his sports-betting proposal and for refusing his request to begin preparing a legal defense of it. Mr. Cuomo said that if Mr. Abrams did not want to take on such cases the Attorney General might not need as big a budget as he has. ''If he has less legal work to do, that's something to consider,'' Mr. Cuomo said. ''He might need less resources.''

A sharply divided Nuclear Regulatory Commission said today that it would decide whether to allow the undamaged nuclear reactor at Three Mile Island to reopen without waiting for the outcome of a pending criminal trial involving the owners of the plant. The vote, affirming a decision made earlier in the week in private, was 3 to 2. The Unit 1 reactor, the twin of Unit 2, which was severely damaged in an accident in 1979, could reopen as early as June. The chairman of the commission, Nunzio J. Palladino, said he believed the agency could judge the ''competency and integrity'' of the management of General Public Utilities Corporation without awaiting the trial of its subsidiary, which operated the plant at the time of the accident. Mr. Palladino voted with the majority.

France today ordered its troops in Chad to extend their control of territory 60 miles northward in support of the Chadian Government and to attack any hostile forces that crossed the new line. The order was given to reduce the northern area controlled by Chadian insurgents and Libyan troops and to increase the area held by the forces of President Hissen Habre and protected by the French. The Defense Ministry here said the order would move the unofficial cease- fire line that has divided Chad since last summer from the 15th parallel to the 16th. At the same time, France further strengthened its air force in Chad. Military officials here said at least three Mirage F-1 jets had left a French base for Chad. Four Jaguars flew to Chad on Thursday from Gabon. The new planes bring French combat strength in Chad to at least 14 combat planes, supported by refueling aircraft and radar surveillance planes.

The Times of London failed to appear for the second straight day today because of a dispute between management and a print union over the dismissal of 750 clerical workers. A spokesman said publication of The Sunday Times was also in doubt.

A Mexican merchant ship carrying a crew of 24 has vanished off the Pacific shore of Nicaragua, the Mexican Government said today. The ship, the Diana D, was last heard from Monday when it reported that it was having engine trouble and gave its position as 60 miles west of Montelimar, on Nicaragua's Pacific coast.

''Hello,'' Michael Maclagan said into his telephone with a voice as smooth as cream sherry, ''you're speaking to the Richmond Herald. What are you trying to find?'' Mr. Maclagan, who works not for a newspaper but for England's 500-year- old Royal College of Arms, or Heralds College, listened carefully as the caller explained her problem. She gave a name and asked whether there was actually such a titled gentleman. ''Hold on a moment,'' Mr. Maclagan said, and he took a thick reference book from a shelf behind him.

The opposition newspaper La Prensa did not publish today because Government censors rejected more than half the stories planned for the front page, the paper's editor said. It was the 11th time since March 1982, when the Sandinista Government proclaimed a state of emergency and set up a censorship office, that La Prensa decided not to publish because of censorship.