About 1% of the U.S. population claims Dutch ancestry. Compared to the average American, these 3.5 million Dutch Americans are taller, have names much later in the alphabet, and, it seems, are less likely to be unemployed.

Perhaps this is that “Protestant Work Ethic,” but more likely it’s the “Reformed Community Ethic.” That is, I think that the Dutch population is a proxy for social cohesion or social capital. I also think that social cohesion is a vaccine against bad outcomes, including unemployment.