The French get over 40 days of vacation per year. And between all the strikes and sick daysââ?¬â??which are often “sick” daysââ?¬â??they (and other Europeans) get even more time off. I bet many Americans would find all this quite appealing. Then again: [M]any more Europeans out of work than Americans; over the last decade, U.S. unemployment has averaged 4.6%, compared with 9.2% for the European Union. Here Niall Ferguson goes into it further. He also proposes a new theory to explain all of this: “The Atheist Sloth Ethic and the Spirit of Collectivism.”