The Feature

Only Yesterday

Many Americans of the 1930s had reason to wonder if they’d ever again have it so good. And many feel the same way now, amidst a drumbeat of news about depleted 401(k) accounts, vanished home equity, and upended certainties about a prosperous retirement. There’s no Only Yesterday to eulogize the departed world — not yet, at least — but plenty of people are stopping to consider what has gone away.