VoteforaParty

Yesterday the leader of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) came to my town। Hatoyama is his name, throwing out Prime Minister Aso is his game. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has been ruling this country for the past 50 years, but has recently lost voters because of the bad economy, bad leaders, etc. They are on their 4th Prime Minster in 3 years, and getting ready to vote for a party in August, who will then choose the Prime Minister from among themselves.
Why do you even care? The US and Japan are close friends, with Japan being the second largest US export market in Asia (China recently surpassed) and Japan’s second-largest import market (aka We sell our crap to them the second-most, and we buy their crap second-most). Japanese firms are the United States’ second-largest source of foreign direct investment, and Japanese investors are the second largest source of purchasers of US treasuries (aka They lend us money to buy crap like cars and houses). The following graph is very concerning, to both America and Japan since our economies are so interdependent. Let’s face it kids, we’re in a symbiotic relationship, and what happens to one will affect the other (aka, we’re married, so we should pay attention to what happens to each other.).