George Leef is an idiot

But most of you knew that about this right-wing kook. His gaffe today, however, is particularly egregious:

A key finding [of a Mackinac Center (a conservative think-tank) policy paper]: although Michigan, over the period 1980-2000, spent significantly more per capita on higher ed than did other large midwestern states (Ohio and Illinois, specifically), its rate of economic growth lagged behind.

To many people, this conclusion will seem strange.

Actually, it doesn't seem strange to anyone who factors in deindustrialization and the precipitous decline of the auto industry in Michigan, which neither Leef nor the report's authors do.