August 17, 1981

Leading economists echo President Reagan's assessment that the economy will remain ''soggy'' in the coming months, but they also warn that continuing high interest rates and the specter of inflationary Government deficits will hamper the President's recovery program well beyond the near-term. The economists say that until these negative factors are removed, the economy will remain stagnant, despite the cut in tax rates. And they are not impresssed by some of the recent positive economic indicators. ''The economy has really gone nowhere since the first quarter of 1979,'' said Alan Reynolds, chief economist for Polyconomics Inc., a private consulting firm. ''I don't think we are going to get out of this trap until we get a credible long-term monetary policy which will ensure the purchasing power of the dollar over the years.''

Controllers' Strike About one-fifth of Atlantic flights normally controlled by Portuguese air controllers were rerouted by the Federal Aviation Administration in response to the controllers' 48-hour boycott imposed in support of the American strikers. The boycott began at 8 last night and was to continue through 8 Tuesday evening. The F.A.A. established two new flight routes that will affect about 20 percent of trans-Atlantic originating in Southern Europe and North Africa. (Page A1, Column 6.) International Polish students postponed marches they had planned to call for the release of five men they said were political prisoners. The demonstrations had been opposed by the Government, the Solidarity union and the Roman Catholic Church. A final decision on whether to hold the marches will be made Saturday, an organizer said. (A1:4.) ''A wrong was done to Israel'' when the Reagan Administration suspended delivery of 16 fighter planes after the Israeli attack on an Iraqi nuclear reactor last month, Prime Minister Menachem Begin told reporters in English and Hebrew. Speaking after the first meeting held by the Cabinet of his coalition Government, he said that President Reagan had ''decided to right that wrong'' and that he expected the suspension to be lifted in the next few days. (A1:5.)

''We will publish a Monday newspaper and hopefully forevermore.'' -Craig Ammerman, executive editor of The Bulletin in Philadelphia. (A1:1.)

Back in 1976, when Phyllis Starr Wilson was managing editor of Glamour magazine, one of Conde Nast's imposing stable of women's publications, she felt that women's magazines were not doing enough for the over-30 set. So she whipped up a prospectus for a magazine geared for women of all ages. She thought of calling it Woman or Self. The following year, S.I. Newhouse Jr., Conde Nast's chairman, got excited about a physical fitness magazine, since fitness articles in Conde Nast magazines were much savored by readers. Ultimately, the powers decided to combine the two notions, and have Mrs. Wilson edit the result. Thus, in late 1977, Conde Nast disclosed that it would give birth to a magazine in January 1979, its first new arrival since Glamour hit the racks 40 years before. The creation would be called Self.

NEW YORK'S FIRST INDIA DAY PARADE: Dancers performing on a float bearing the portrait of Mohandas K. Gandhi yesterday during the India Day Parade on Madison Avenue. This weekend was chosen for the parade because Saturday marked the anniversary of India's independence from Britain in 1947. Page B3.