December 5, 1996

Union officials, noting that their workers have been working without contract since last Dec 31, say that if Bergen County (NJ) Executive William P Shuber, board member of United Way, does not want to give county employees a raise thisyear, they will not donate money to United Way (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)

Peter Passell Economic Scene column on conclusion reached by special Congressional commission that tax bracket of every middle- and upper-income taxpayer has been overadjusted for inflation, and that tens of millions of Government beneficiaries have gotten larger monthly checks because Consumer Price Index has overstated changes in cost of living; flaws of Consumer Price Index as measure of cost of living are well understood, but no member of Congress is willing to support change in widespread practice of inflation indexing, fearing political outcry from constituents (M)

Internet technology is having effects, good and bad, on investors and investing; reams of information are available, but truthfulness and accuracy can be almost impossible to judge; amateur investors find their way to obscure securities and mingle on line with both stock promoters trying to drive prices up and short-sellers trying to drive prices down; securities regulators are becoming more aggressive about on-line stock fraud as on-line investing grows by leaps and bounds; in one high-technology hype, an investor in Omnigene Diagnostics sensed something amiss when he read information on its Web site; he then used Internet to notify SEC and warn other investors; photos; charts (L)

US Public Interest Research Group praises New Jersey for doing better job than most in keeping track of toxic chemicals and reducing likelihood of accidents (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)

Article discusses continued popularity and fascination with movie It's A Wonderful Life fifty years after its release; festivals and special screenings are cropping up around country and many high schools are staging plays based on film; photo (M)