>Yet again, Minnesota bucks the trend. I don't know of a definitive study that controls for all variables but one theory is the heavy Nordic population there.[

>Yet again, Minnesota bucks the trend. I don't know of a definitive study that controls for all variables but one theory is the heavy Nordic population there.[1] If you believe in cultural factors... (e.g. memes such as "Swiss punctuality", "German engineering", "Protestant work ethic", etc), there's something about Nordic culture or solidarity that aids success. (E.g. Norway does not squander its oil resources and built up its citizens' pensions -- while oil-rich Venezuela is basically bankrupt.) It's hard to think of a geographical area in USA with significant # of descendants of Sweden/Norway/Denmark being an economic slum. It's an interesting correlation, if not provable causation. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandinavian_Americans https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandinavian_Americans