May 27, 1986

The Economy Dramatic changes in the cost and supply of housing could be expected if the tax incentives to help nourish real estate investment are curtailed as proposed by Congressional tax revision plans. Rents would be pushed higher and property values of high-priced homes would weaken, experts say. [ Page D1. ]

As public schools in New York City and thousands of other districts across the country move to open their doors to 4-year-olds, a national debate is developing over how such young children should be taught. The major issue is how public-school teachers, accustomed to using textbooks and lectures and emphasizing academic skills, can adjust their methods to the much broader needs of children at a time when they are developing social skills and their sense of identity. The most effective programs, said Lilian Katz, a professor of education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and editor of The Early Childhood Research Quarterly, emphasize the development of a child's ''disposition to learn.'' ''You can't take a lesson in how to be curious,'' she said. Screening Tests at Issue Other topics of controversy include how - and, indeed, whether - tests should be used to screen the social and academic development of 4-year-olds.

The recent spurt in crude oil prices, primed by strong demand for gasoline in the United States, signals only a temporary gain for the battered oil industry and prices will decline again before fall, many industry experts and analysts say. ''Frankly, it's baffling in objective terms,'' said Scott Johnson of Chase Econometrics, referring to the market's rise. The price of the major American crude oil, West Texas Intermediate, cracked the $17-a-barrel level early last week on both the futures and open exchanges for the first time in three months. And petroleum product prices moved up strongly as well.

The investigation of Antonio Gebauer and his handling of Brazilian accounts at the Morgan Guaranty Trust Company has focused new attention on the broader question of capital flight from Latin America, an issue that has assumed increasing importance in the context of the region's four-year-old debt crisis. News of the case, which has involved allegations of the diversion of as much as $6 million in deposits, has shocked the many friends and critics here of the banker, who has had dealings with Brazil over the past 15 years. Mr. Gebauer has indicated he will contest the allegations. Intense coverage by newspapers, radio and television has treated the case as a major scandal. But the presence of ''undeclared'' Brazilian deposits in New York has not come as a surprise.

To the bicycle-riding purse-snatcher on the Upper East Side of Manhattan yesterday afternoon, 87-year-old Vera Tucker must have looked like an easy target. But the robber soon learned otherwise, when Mrs. Tucker struck several blows for justice. The white-haired woman, elegantly attired in a print floral dress and a wide-brimmed straw hat, emerged from the incident with her purse, a battered umbrella and a slight injury to her arm. Witnesses said that the robber, led away in handcuffs by police officers, fared much worse.The incident began just after 5 P.M. as Mrs. Tucker was walking home along the south side of East 66th Street near Fifth Avenue - a block of expensive apartment buildings with an occasional boutique and town house.