Two major studies about the post-industrial future of Michigan and its Midwest neighbors start from the premise that the Rust Belt region may soon be an economic wasteland if we don't get serious about knowledge creation and innovation. According to the Brookings Institution and the Michigan Road project, Michigan's current unemployment rate of 7.5 percent is the nations highest. The Michigan Road project study stated, "Ironically, at a time when the rest of the world has recognized that investing in education and knowledge creation is the key to not only prosperity but, indeed, survival, too many of Michigan's citizens and leaders…have come to view such investments as a low priority, expendable during hard times. Michigan's support per student dropped to $6,067 in 2004 (versus an average of $6,735 in other Great Lakes states), ranking Michigan in the bottom one-third of the nation, according to the Michigan Road study.