This article does a nice job summarizing things to look for when investing in an environment of slow growth, more government intervention, higher unemployment and inflation.  The bottom line is that investors have to be much more concerned with keeping their costs down in an environment that will lead to lower investment returns.  Every ten basis points will make a big difference over time.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Investing-in-The-New-ms-1917203259.html?x=0