Econ Battle Zone: Budget Showdown
Planet Money
NPR
4.6 • 29.8K Ratings
🗓️ 25 June 2025
⏱️ 39 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Can Mary explain what effect extending the 2017 tax cuts will have on economic growth AND make her entire segment rhyme? Will Erika be able to overcome her fear of singing and craft a country song about the history of Medicaid? Can Kenny put together a piece about what warning signs economists look for to know whether the national debt has grown too large... but as a romantic comedy?
Guest judges Betsey Stevenson and David Kestenbaum face a difficult choice... but only one contestant can claim the coveted Econ Battle Zone Belt.
Artists featured in this episode: Rexx Life Raj (IG: @rexxliferaj); Merle Hazard; Alison Brown; Tristan Scroggins; Matt Coles; and Garry West.
Special thanks to Liz Garton Scanlon, Robin Rudowitz and Sarah Rosenbaum.
Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.
Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.
Help support Planet Money and hear our 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
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | This is Planet Money from NPR. |
| 0:06.4 | Last time on Econ Battlezone, Erica emerged victorious. |
| 0:12.0 | I can't believe I won anything is possible. |
| 0:15.4 | And was awarded the Econ Battlezone Belt. |
| 0:19.7 | It's a lot of gold. There is a lot of gold on this. |
| 0:24.6 | Today, two new Planet Money reporters enter Econ Battlezone Stadium. |
| 0:30.6 | I'm Kenny from Meadville, Pennsylvania. |
| 0:32.6 | I'm Mary from Richmond, Virginia. |
| 0:34.6 | Ready to do whatever it takes to get their hands on the belt. |
| 0:39.4 | I love shiny things like a raven. |
| 0:42.5 | I would wear that belt for a full month, everywhere I went. |
| 0:45.4 | I'm not giving this belt up. This is my belt. |
| 0:48.0 | Welcome to a special episode of Econ Battlezone. |
| 0:51.6 | Today, Mary and Kenny come for the champ. Let's have today's contestants |
| 0:57.2 | join us in Econ Battlezone Stadium. Erica, Mary, Kenny, the rules are simple. You will each be |
| 1:06.2 | assigned at random your own Econ Challenge question and secret ingredient. |
| 1:11.6 | You will need to answer that question, include your secret ingredient, and delight and inform our judges. |
| 1:18.6 | Since I don't know what we're doing, there's no real way to prepare. |
| 1:22.6 | I'm already panicking about how I haven't spent 24 hours panicking. |
| 1:26.6 | Our country is in the midst of a |
| 1:28.6 | great debate about the federal budget and the deficit. Should we shrink the size of the federal |
| 1:34.3 | government? Should Congress extend the tax cuts from President Donald Trump's first term? |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.