April 8, 1994

Despite its reputation among most taxpayers as a fierce bill collector, the Internal Revenue Service is proving in many cases to be a most patient and forgiving creditor. Or so it seems under an I.R.S. program that some might think is overly generous in settlements with delinquent taxpayers.

Schools Chancellor Ramon C. Cortines, meeting late last night with Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, agreed to the Mayor's demand that he cut 2,500 jobs from the Board of Education administration, aides to the Mayor said. It was more than double the reduction that Mr. Cortines had previously agreed to, and apparently ended a budgetary confrontation between the two men. Mr. Cortines agreed to cut 1,200 jobs by the end of the fiscal year, June 30, and an additional 1,300 jobs in the next fiscal year, said Deputy Mayor Peter J. Powers, who attended the meeting at Gracie Mansion. He said the meeting went past midnight and lasted just under an hour.

MOUNTAIN climbers have Everest. Swimmers have the English Channel. Actresses have "Medea." The title character of Euripides' tragedy is one of the huge, ravenous roles of dramatic literature. It will take everything a performer can give, then ask for more. Sheer talent is not enough. Courage and a certain recklessness are required to conquer it. A wild and exotic creature who knows potions that cure and poisons that kill, Medea is also a forsaken wife and tortured mother. She is one of us and not like us at all.

Without a vote or even a formal discussion, the Federal Reserve's top policy makers are taking over the process of raising and lowering rates, rather than allowing their chairman, Alan Greenspan, to act on his own between meetings, as he often has in the past. Several Federal Reserve officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, described the new approach not as implying criticism of Mr. Greenspan, but as a sign of growing reluctance to delegate authority to any single person. In fact, both of the Fed's recent moves to raise rates, in February and March -- the first increases in five years -- were made by the policy makers as a group. They acted in the face of faster economic growth and growing concerns about inflation.

Sales at the country's retail-store chains leaped ahead in March, driven by the arrival of spring and an earlier Easter that inspired consumers to buy warm-weather clothes and products for their homes and yards. Many of the nation's largest retailers reported double-digit sales gains last month. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the country's largest retail company, said its same-store sales jumped 15 percent. Sears, Roebuck & Company had an astounding 16.8 percent comparable-store sales increase, and same-store sales at J. C. Penney stores rose 14 percent.