July 2, 1999

New York Yankees beat Detroit Tigers, 6-0; photo (M)

Problems in Japan have led some American economists to pay greater attention to liquidity theory from 1930's that postulates that economy can become stuck in recession or depression because consumers refuse to spend and businesses decline to invest even when interest rates fall to almost zero; Japanese Government has reduced interest rates to virtually zero, yet consumers have stubbornly held back from borrowing or spending; theories of economists Robert J Gordon of Northwestern University, Milton Friedman, John Maynard Keynes and Paul Krugman discussed; how Americans might react in the event of collapse of consumer confidence also discussed; photos (M)

American Assn of Health Plans, trade assn for managed care industry, says that health maintenance orgns will increase Medicare premiums or cut benefits for most of their six million elderly subscribers next year because they consider Federal payments they receive inadequate; says that, in addition, at least 250,000 Medicare beneficiaries will be forced out of HMO's because their plans are curtailing service areas or dropping out of Medicare altogether; some of these beneficiaries may find other HMO's, but many people who are dropped will have unnerving experience of losing familiar doctors; decisions seem to undercut crucial part of Pres Clinton's Medicare proposal, which depends on competition among managed care plans to make whole program more efficient (M)

Peter Marks Critic's Notebook reviews current Broadway stage performances by several well-known television actors; photos of Polly Draper in Closer, Scott Wolf in Side Man, Wayne Knight of Seinfeld fame in Art, Bill Brochtrup of NYPD in Snakebit, Lisa Gay Hamilton of The Practice in Angelique, Tony Danza in The Iceman Cometh, and Calista Flockhart in Bash (M)

Joshua Nkomo Dies at 82 The African nationalist and guerrilla leader was father to Zimbabwe's struggle for independence. PAGE C17 Gloom in Belfast Talks to resolve the impasse threatening Northern Ireland's peace settlement have broken off amid hints of further delays. PAGE A6