In Italy, the bank takes cheese

Transcribed from the audio; small errors are possible.

In Italy, the bank takes cheese. Not your house, not your car, just wheels. You make Parmigiano. Here's the catch. It ages at least a year, two for the best. The bank stacks your wheels on a cool, dark shelf. You get up to 80%. The cheese pays for itself. Don't pay it back, they sell a wheel. Since 1953, that's been the deal. Half a million wheels sit there today, about $350 million, aging away. Then summer brought a wave of heat that wouldn't clear, power jumped 30% to keep the cooling near. So solar panels line the roof to cut the extra cost, making sure the precious wheels of cheese are never lost. If you grate that Parmigiano tonight, remember it aged in a vault, safe, cool, and tight.