Japan: Hatoyama's Record-Setting Budget

The Japanese legislature on March 24 approved a record 92.3 trillion yen ($1 trillion) budget for fiscal year 2010. Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and his Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) government hope that the budget will not only stimulate Japan's notoriously stagnant economy but also boost the DPJ's popularity ahead of Upper House elections in July.