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

In this article, Cameron Daniels explains that the small decrease in poverty levels from 13.3% to 12.8% from 1967 to 2003 (36 years!) is not so bad as it initially seems as Simpson's Paradox rears his ugly head.

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!

We haven't looked at inflation expectations since November 15! Quantitative easing, historically low interest rates, and a rise in consumer spending haven't been enough to increase inflation past a tame (again, historically low) 0.7% since December of 2009. However, we live in the real world and even if we were spared from inflation's clutches today, we might not be so lucky in the future. On that note, let's look at the market's inflation expectations - which we calculate by subtracting the Treasury's Daily Real Curve Rates from the Daily Treasury Yield Curve.

Sticky wages are more than a disgusting check you receive from your employer - employees are likely to not want to take a job for less money than one they worked previously. Sticky wages are one of the reasons that recessions can last a long time, sort of like the 'Great Recession' of the recent past. Even though the recession is officially over, high employment still exists, and a number of economic indicators still are at shaky levels. Anecdotally, there are many examples of people who took lower paying jobs in order to get back to work, however the official data shows that wages stayed flat or even rose, even throughout the recession.

(Updated with information on Facebook's potential IPO in April 2012). Remember back just a few short years ago when the ultimate goal of a start-up in Silicon Valley was to either get bought out (by a public company) or to go public? The first internet bubble saw companies like Amazon and eBay make their debuts, but it also relegated other companies to the history books: iWon.com, pets.com, and Startups.com. As a result of new regulations and laws (a major piece being the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002), an Initial Public Offering may not be the glamorous exit strategy it once was. A perfect example most of us have experience with? Facebook.

I just wanted to take a moment to wish a Merry Christmas to all of our Christian readers out there (happy holidays to the rest of you, of course!) from us here at DQYDJ.