This line at the end is the most frustrating:

> But they still don’t seem to grasp what’s been lost, or why. It’s easy to dismiss the disappearance of factory jobs as a past misstep—with a “we’re not getting those jobs back” and a sigh. Then again, you can’t know that for sure if you never try.

If there is one thing that Obama did that was vital to the US it was saving of the automotive industry in 2008. He did this in spite of the "learned" economic experts saying otherwise.

Too bad, he didn't ignore them with the banks and jail the bankers.