Jack Ablin

Retail spending is heating up, as the tenaciously terrible winter loosens its grip on much of the country.

Back in the 1970s, 25 percent of the American workforce counted on a union card to guarantee their household a place in the middle class. Blame technology, globalization or even the oil embargo, but union membership has declined as the service economy evolved. Now, standing between American households and a middle class lifestyle is a college diploma, yet only 30 percent of 25- to 34-year-olds have a bachelor's degree.