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I believe you may have misread these sentences because they're terribly phrased. The author isn't claiming that the US scores lower than Finland, South Korea and Canada because they're less lazy. Rather, he's claiming that although these countries score better than the U.S. in math, their algebraic skills don't make a difference past graduation. Rather, their perseverance helps them in their career pursuits. By extension, the author implies that US students can simply make up for a lack of algebraic knowledge with perseverance. Okay.It’s true that students in Finland, South Korea and Canada score better on mathematics tests. But it’s their perseverance, not their classroom algebra, that fits them for demanding jobs.