After very high inflation, the United States is finally feeling some relief in the form of "disinflation." But, why exactly has inflation slowed down? Three Planet Money hosts try to answer that question while competing to be the winner of our very own reporting challenge: Econ Battle Zone! It's economics journalism meets high-stakes reality TV competition! Will our contestants be able to impress our celebrity judges? How will they manage to incorporate their mystery ingredients? Who will take home the championship belt? Tune in for the inaugural episode of...Econ Battle Zone! This episode was hosted by Keith Romer, Amanda Aronczyk, Erika Beras, and Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi. James Sneed produced this episode with help from Emma Peaslee. The show was edited by Molly Messick, engineered by Cena Loffredo, and fact checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer. Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
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This is planet money from NPR.
They came from all across North America.
I'm Alexi from Santa Fe, New Mexico.
I'm Amanda from Toronto, Canada.
I'm Erica from Queens, New York.
Three planet money reporters with one shared goal.
I'm here to see if I can rise to the challenge.
I moved here to America to win.
I actually am here to make friends.
Welcome to another episode of Econ Battle Zone, where today Alexei, Amanda, and Erika will put all their storytelling savvy and reporting Moxie to the test as they battle it out with the title of Econ battle zone champion and the coveted Econ battle zone belt.
Let's have today's contestants join us in Econ Battlezone Stadium.
Alexei, Amanda, Erica, you all know the rules.
You'll each be assigned, at random, your own econ challenge phrase, I that you will need to report out in a way that explains that phrase and delights our judges.
Ooh, sounds good.