Serious Thinkers™ in all corners of the web return to some common themes, even when those themes are currently out of the public spotlight. Recently, those Serious Thinkers™ have been reading between the lines on topics which the public has moved on from - the effect of the minimum wage on unemployment, and even more to the point, the effect of the minimum wage on specific segments of the population. And why shouldn't they? The current official unemployment rate is 9.2%, but the official unemployment rate among those with a Bachelor's Degree or higher is a relatively healthy 4.4%.

In 2006, Former President George Bush signed a well intentioned law which allowed companies to automatically enroll employees in the company retirement program - and to automatically choose the investment in which they were enrolled. The Pension Protection Act of 2006 authorized companies to automatically enroll new participants and enroll them in three types of funds - lifecycle funds, balanced funds, and managed accounts - while absolving the companies of any financial liability for losses in the funds. As expected, the law has effectively increased the rate of participation in company 401(k) accounts.

There is a German word which perfectly describes a feeling we often get... in English-Speaking America.  "Schadenfreude" means to derive pleasure from the misfortune of others.  Generally, when schadenfreude appears in print, it refers to the failings of a high powered sports team, such as the New York Yankees or (not this year!) the Los Angeles Lakers.  These teams are historically so good (note I left out my favorites, the Boston teams, although they could certainly apply) that other sports fans will cheer for two things - their team to win, and team X to lose!  On that note, today I bring you a link which will most likely make you happy - and the 'team' is Bank of America.

Every few months, we here at DQYDJ like to check in on the market's expectations of inflation.  There are lots of variables in the market - not least of which is the ending of the Federal Reserve's open market purchase of bonds known as Quantitative Easing 2.0.  Still, even with the conflicting signals of  historically high gold prices, ridiculously low mortgage prices, and out of control commodity prices, the market isn't pricing out of control inflation.  As a matter of fact, the inflation that it is pricing in is decently low.  Enough rambling, let's take a look.

Guess what?  DQYDJ actually entered a carnival last week!

• Check out "The Housing Double Dip", which was hosted at the Carnival of Personal Finance over at (our newfound and liked blog!) Control Your Cash.  In fact, subscribe to them while you're over there!

I hear you: DQYDJ needs to enter more Carnivals.  Fine, we will!

Recently an interesting Forbes article was published which looks at the state fiscal crisis in a new and refreshing way.  Using a 'deadweight ratio' of the number of private sector workers paying into state funds versus the number of public sector workers and pensions being paid out.  By this measure you can tell how many people each private sector worker is supporting in the public sector -whether a retiree or a public sector worker.  Yes, by this measure, in California, the results are still dire.  Read on to see what I mean!

DQYDJ was featured in a carnival for an unprecedented 3rd straight week!  Please go check out the Carnival of Personal Finance, hosted this week at Saving to Invest... and look for "Hedge Your Gas Prices!" in the Budgeting and Money Management section!

I know, this is a topic we here at DQYDJ have covered before... specifically back on July 2nd, 2009 when gas was averaging the incredible price of $2.63.  This specific article was inspired by the recent comeback gas prices have made - gas today average $3.33 a gallon nationwide, according to Fuel Gauge Report from AAA.  However, today we're going to give you the opportunity to calculate what it would take for you to hedge your gas prices with our nifty gas price hedging calculator!

Wow, a new leaf has been turned over! We here at DQYDJ submitted articles to carnivals 2 weeks in a row! This week, go check out the 297th edition of the Personal Finance Carnival at Money Smart Life. There you'll see Cameron's article "Skill Based Inequality Due to Technology" in the Economics section

Guess what, we here at DQYDJ actually submitted to a blog carnival this last week! I know it's been a while, but it seemed like a good idea with a freshly written personal finance article, "USNews Chimes in with some 'Radical' Tips!" Without further ado, please visit the 295th Carnival of Personal Finance... and note we made it into Pride's category, the mother of all sins! Thanks Taking Charge!