Good points Forman! I do think you are getting a little ahead of yourself with hyperinflation. thats not going to happen as long as we keep  losing jobs like this.

Yes, I do think the American enconomy has changed and some of these changes will be permanent. I believe that with globalization a lot of both blue collar manufacturing jobs and white collar technical jobs (ie. computer programming, customer service) will continue to flow overseas. If you look at the improved profits from major public companies this year, much of it seems to come not from increased revenue, but from the companines becoming "leaner" by cutting jobs and overhead. Many experts predict that as a fallout from this recession, there may be a larger permanently unemployed class that did not exist before. I dont know the ramifications of all this, but I do see a widening gap between the haves and have-nots.

As far as Obama's policies are concerned- I think its too broad of a question. Is it the stimulus you are talking about? My opinion on that is that it may help a little bit to revitalize the flow of money, and keep some businesses operating, but I think the long term effects of printing all this money could be devastating. In the not so distant future we're going to have a choice...hyperinflation or a severe increase in taxes-- you dont get to put that much new money in circulation without consequences. The stock market might be resillient right now, but that doesnt mean the economy is healthy- We have a 10.2 % unemployment rate and we are still losing jobs every month!!