IN the two centuries since Benjamin Franklin first noted the inevitability of death and taxes, medical science has made progress in at least deferring the former. The joys of longer life, however, are diluted by the ever rising and more varied tolls exacted by the taxmen. This week, as Americans are gathering their records, loan applications and discontent for the IRS springtime follies, our Economy section cover story poses the question, "Is the U.S. Going Broke?"

Increasing Government costs and declining public services make the citizenry wonder why the tax trip is both so individually bad and so collectively unrewarding. With the help of TIME'S Board of Economists and our correspondents round the country, Associate Editor George Church set out to answer that question. His article examines where the money comes from, where it goes and why the windfall once expected from declining military expenses has failed to materialize.

The story suggests ways to get more value from tax dollars and more equity into the means used to collect them. If our staff members have uncovered no way of refuting Ben Franklin, they do tell how taxes may be lived with more easily.

Despite TV and other modern diversions, the movies continue to occupy a large cultural niche. This week our Show Business section makes a long and detailed examination of a rather special new film The Godfather, starring Marlon Brando and based on Mario Puzo's best seller. The film merits unusual attention not only because of what went on in front of the cameras but also because of the controversy over the Mafia theme that occurred off the set.

Film Critic Jay Cocks managed to see The Godfather three weeks ago at a private screening in Los Angeles, a session so secretive that, he recalls, "there were just two of us in the room and an armed guard posted at the door." Impressed by what he saw, he took a second and third look last week in New York. He and Associate Editor Gerald Clarke, who also attended one of the screenings, collaborated on our story about the intrigues, protests and creative and financial pressures that have surrounded the production during the past year and a half.

For Cocks, who calls himself a "film junkie" ("I need movies to keep me going"), seeing The Godfather three times in two weeks was not really so unusual. Between new releases, revivals and TV's reruns, he sees about a dozen movies each week. In this case, nostalgia was an added attraction; some of the location filming was done in The Bronx neighborhood where Cocks grew up.

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