August 26, 1985

The most striking thing is the double-barreled incongruity of it all. Learned professors from places such as Harvard and Stanford spoke of ''regressions,'' ''simulation models'' and ''third-order polynomial lags'' while the folks from industry fumed that nobody seemed to understand that, in the real world, the roof is collapsing. ''They're all so theoretical,'' complained James Harring of Motorola Inc. The United States is losing 3,500 jobs a day to foreign competition, he asserted, and ''you haven't seen anything yet.'' These sentiments were expressed at a symposium held amid the spectacular natural beauty of Grand Teton National Park, with about $50,000 of the cost of the session being picked up by a Government whose budget deficit is probably the biggest cause of the problem being discussed.

By blaming its own employees and equipment for the toxic gas leak at its Institute, W.Va., plant, the Union Carbide Corporation has fallen deeper into a corporate quagmire of litigation, overburdened management and public cynicism about its concern for safety. Seven months after the devastating accident at its plant in Bhopal, India, - the worst industrial accident in history - the company's problems appear to be growing worse. Carbide, which disclosed the results of an internal investigation in Institute last Friday, said that for 10 days before the Aug. 11 leak, 32 employees had been in a position to know that gas might escape from a chemical tank. Safety alarms were out of service, a broken gauge had not been fixed and basic safety procedures were ignored, the company said.

Five weeks after South Africa proclaimed a state of emergency, those most affected by it and some of those detained under its provisions say they see patterns that suggest a many-pronged attack by the authorities. Some former detainees say the methods designed to secure official aims are harsh. Others say solitary confinement is common, while a civil rights group says it fears the police are torturing their captives. Such assertions are impossible to substantiate because the police do not acknowledge using cruel methods of interrogation, and often those who say they were tortured also say they were alone with their interrogators at the time. Some of the more than 1,000 detainees released since the emergency was proclaimed have refused to talk to reporters, even when guaranteed anonymity.

To understand why economists are becoming more pessimistic about the economy, it helps to know that Charles H. Sanford is giving out free curtains. Mr. Sanford builds homes around the country, but recently some have not been selling well. So he decided Friday to lower home prices in a development in north Dallas by about $2,000 and to throw in free curtains with each purchase. The Dallas market may be worse than most, largely because of the Texas oil business slowdown, but Mr. Sanford is not alone. Almost everywhere across the country, builders are finding that new homes are not selling well, so they are slowing construction of both houses and apartments. The housing market is stagnant, and a boom that seemed to be materializing early this year as mortgage rates dropped has dissipated.

The afternoon was a struggle for the Yankees, but it probably should not have been. Not after Dan Pasqua, the rookie from Yonkers, drove in four runs, and certainly not after Don Mattingly crushed a two-run homer in the seventh inning. But a 7-0 lead dissipated into an 8-5 victory over the Seattle Mariners today, giving the Yanks a dull sweep of the three-game series. It also moved them one critical game closer to the Toronto Blue Jays, who lost at Chicago and now lead the American League East by three games with six weeks remaining.