October 29, 1999

George Vecsey Sports of The Times column discusses New York Yankees and their road to second consecutive world championship; photo (M)

Article on Falun Gong, spiritual movement banned in China because of fears that it was achieving cult status, is thriving in New York City under spiritualist Li Hongzhi; movement, a combination of exercise and music, described; photo (M)

American economy turns in its best quarterly performance of year this summer, virtually guaranteeing enough momentum to carry nation to its longest economic expansion in history early next year; economy expands at brisk 4.8 percent annual rate in June-Sept quarter, while inflation turns out to be mild; Commerce Dept, at same time as it provides its fresh snapshot of economy, also releases sweeping revision of its past data, stretching back to 1959; revision is intended to make Government's measure of economic performance reflect the new electronic technologies that are now so important; new numbers show 1990's to be decade of stronger economic growth than originally reported, although not stronger than any of last four decades; separately, Labor Dept releases its employment cost index for third quarter; index rises only by 0.8 percent and 3.1 percent over last 12 months (M)

Ben Brantley reviews musical The Dead, adapted from story by James Joyce, and presented at Playwrights Horizon; Christopher Walken and Blair Brown star; photos; book is by Richard Nelson, with score by Shaun Davey (M)

Floyd Norris column on questionable accounting practices of some companies acquired by Tyco International Inc just prior to mergers; says in two recent purchases--of AMP Inc and United States Surgical--companies took big losses just before acquisitions closed as sales dropped sharply and expenses soared; says losses were never reported to investors; urges Securities and Exchange Commission to change rules that would allow investors to have knowledge of such losses; graph (M)

Aetna Inc, nation's largest health insurer, says Securities and Exchange Commission has started review of way company accounted for its August purchase of Prucare unit of Prudential Insurance Co of America; deal made Aetna industry leader with more than 20 million customers, including 1.2 million in New York and nearby areas; review is latest in barrage of actions that have jolted investors, battering Aetna and other big managed-care companies; they include at least four class-action lawsuits, new law in California and similar measure passed by US House that would open health maintenance organizations to malpractice lawsuits (M)

Five Republican candidates for President--Sen John McCain, Sen Orrin G Hatch, Gary L Bauer, Steve Forbes and Alan Keyes--meet for debate at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH, but pay little heed to one another as they offer views on issues including military spending, campaign finance and overhauling tax system; until closing minutes of 60-minute nationally televised gathering, candidates also resist turning their fire on Gov George W Bush, frontrunner who is not present; finally, Forbes, who is financing his own campaign, attacks Bush as obsessed with amassing war chest and not subjecting himself to debates; photo (L)

US Commerce Department publishes revised figures on economy's performance in recent decades, which still falls short of prosperity achieved in earlier booms since World War II; 'New Economy' that many proclaim remains vision rather than reality; economy has grown faster in 1990's than Federal statistics have acknowledged; spending is stronger, investment is greater, productivity is higher, inflation is a little lower; it all adds up to economy that produced estimated $8.76 trillion worth of goods and services last year, or $248 billion more than under old method of calculating economic growth; revision stops short of recording breakthrough of new economy--one in which new technology is bringing about transformation that makes economy capable of productivity advances and economic growth reminiscent of golden era of 1960's; graphs; photos (M)

Many Oregonians say they are deeply angered over US House of Representatives' approval of measure that would effectively overturn Oregon law permitting doctor-assisted suicide; two years ago Oregonians voted 60 percent to 40 percent to reaffirm state's so-called Death With Dignity Act; Oregon residents contend House action amounts to an extraordinary rebuke of popular will in a single state; Oregonians have long prided themselves on being in forefront on many social issues--sometimes with ideas that catch on in rest of nation, and sometimes not (M)

Health insurance companies in New York are starting to pay as much for prescription drugs as they pay for care of hospitalized patients, a stunning change in direction for region's health care dollars; effects of these rising drug costs are felt at every point, from manufacturers battling with Congress and White House to doctor pressured to prescribe a drug preferred by health maintenance orgn to shopper who learns that his asthma medication will cost twice as much as it did last month; for the insurance industry, shift in health care costs is prompting health maintenance orgns to change ways patients pay for drugs, and in some cases, passing on the increase directly to consumers, or trying to persuade hospitals to absorb some of new burden; some employers, faced with rising premiums, are requiring workers to pay 20 percent of each prescription, rather than continuing practice of a fixed co-payment (M)

Clyde Haberman NYC column discusses growing protest against Herman Badillo, chairman of City University of New York, over anti-Latino statements he made recently concerning educational life in city of immigrants (M)

House narrowly passes last spending bill of year, $85 billion measure for labor, health and education programs, containing 0.97 percent across-the-board cut in Federal spending; cut would create on paper a budget that does not tap Social Security money; Pres Clinton has said he will veto bill; says budget preserves Social Security money only as result of 'smoke and mirrors'--creative accounting by Republican lawmakers--that had 'totally bumfuzzled' American voters; he is supported in that argument by nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which says that Republicans are $17 billion over their spending limits and into Social Security money (M)