September 7, 1993

As a prospective brand name, the House of Windsor might seem a bit tarnished, what with the late unpleasantness about Charles and Di, Andy and Fergie, the Queen's taxes and so forth. But a new British-American company is convinced that at least to consumers in the United States, the royal family is still synonymous with class and quality. Later this month the company will introduce the House of Windsor Collection, a catalogue to be distributed in the United States through which it will offer British glassware, picture frames, jewelry, knick-knacks and the like, at prices ranging from $50 to several thousand dollars. All the merchandise will be made by holders of the Royal Warrant, a designation indicating that members of the royal family consider the manufacturers to be the best in their field in Britain.

Eric W., a severely retarded 9-year-old, moved his head slightly to touch the blue rubber switch attached to his wheelchair. By tapping it lightly, he was able to move the jumping frog on the computer screen in front of him -- and enter a world that had been closed to him until a few months ago. Before he began working with computer equipment at Ferncliff Manor, a school and residence here for retarded children, Eric was not able to communicate even his most basic desires; his only consistent voluntary movement is shaking his head. But now, aided by technology specifically designed to help people with mental retardation, Eric has learned to use that movement to tell staff members, who asked that his full name not be used, that he would like to go outside, get a drink of water or listen to music.

The fierce bidding war for the El Paso Electric Company at first glance might seem like a big play for a relatively meager prize. The small utility is operating under Federal bankruptcy protection, it continues to lose money and serves only 258,000 customers in El Paso; Las Cruces, N.M., and small farming communities along the Rio Grande. But across the river lies a vast market for American utilities wanting to export electricity. If the North American Free Trade Agreement takes effect, American utility companies will be able to build and operate independent power plants in Mexico, form joint ventures with Mexican businesses and sell even more wholesale electricity to a country hungry for power.

The rainmakers are coming to China, and Philip A. Schaefer is one of them. "That's what I do," he said. "I make rain." So he has no apologies for his breathlessness in announcing to a reporter over the phone: "We're coming to town with $500 billion in municipal and corporate pension funds, and I am just so excited. This is the first public pension fund conference ever in China."

What is intellectually irksome about China, for anyone who values human rights, is that a Communist Party that is often brutally repressive should be so stunningly successful in raising living standards. The party torments many of the nation's bravest and boldest thinkers, sometimes locking them up in insane asylums or imprisoning them with criminals suffering from infectious diseases. Yet at the same time, the party is presiding over one of the greatest increases in living standards in the history of the world.