April Fool: 'The Economist' Opens Theme Park

Copyright © 2009 National Public Radio®. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.

STEVE INSKEEP, host:

And today's last word in business comes from the city where world leaders are meeting this week to fix the economy. London is also home to the magazine The Economist. And in these tough times, The Economist is branching out.

RENEE MONTAGNE, host:

It has purchased real estate to open an amusement park it's calling Econoland. It will combine a theme park with the joys of macroeconomics.

INSKEEP: Visitors would enter the chamber of horrors and tremble at the wailing of distressed debt.

MONTAGNE: There would be a Dow Jones rollercoaster and a contest where you can test your strength against a bear market.

INSKEEP: The Economist says its new park would even have a fiscal fantasy land, where you can watch economies shrivel before your very eyes.

MONTAGNE: The company says it's hoping to attract a young and dynamic crowd to its new Econoland, including, or maybe especially, former financial sector employees.

INSKEEP: And that's the business news for April 1st on MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.

MONTAGNE: And I'm Renee Montagne.

Copyright © 2009 National Public Radio®. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to National Public Radio. This transcript is provided for personal, noncommercial use only, pursuant to our Terms of Use. Any other use requires NPR's prior permission. Visit our permissions page for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio.