Moneybox: Greek Yogurt, Meet American Politics

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Moneybox Greek Yogurt, Meet American Politics Chuck Schumer's ridiculous plan to subsidize the booming Greek yogurt business. By Matthew Yglesias Posted Wednesday, Mar 21, 2012, at 04:08 PM ET The Greek economy may be collapsing, but Greek yogurt is booming in America.  Unfortunately for the Greeks, Greek yogurt isn't like Champagne or Parmigiano-Reggiano: You can make it anywhere. America's supply of Greek yogurt tends to come not from the fair shores of the Aegean Sea but from upstate New York. Just a few short years ago, the viability of New York's dairy industry was in doubt. An alarmed 2005 study by regional consulting group CITEC noted that a dairy sector is a classic business cluster phenomenon with forward and backward linkages between different elements of the supply chain. In other words, decline in one area can lead to a downward spiral. "Shrinkage in the number of dairy farms and the number of cows in the North Country has threatened the cheese-making operations in the region," they wrote "and the reduction in the number of cheese plants operating in the North Country has had a negative impact on the dairy farmers." Growing dairy demand from the developing world prevented things from completely falling apart during the aughts, but the global financial crisis hammered milk prices, stressing dairies across the country. Fortunately for New York, however, the state had a longstanding strong position in the relatively small yogurt subset of the dairy industry. A decade ago, New York made as much yogurt as California, while producing less than a third as much milk. That's why in 2008 it was natural for Fage, a Greek dairy company, to ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate George Zimmerman Reportedly Used Racial Slur on 911 Call Before Trayvon Martin Shooting Even the RNC's Rule 40(b) Will Not Stop Gingrich From Making Mischief at the Convention A Jets Fan on Tim Tebow's Trade to New York: Noooooo!	Advertisement
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