Whereas in the pre-reform period Michigan was, generally speaking, an economic laggard within the United States, during the years since the economic reforms the Wolverine State has generally outperformed the rest of the union economically. [...] Michigan: Policy lessons from the Wolverine State In this section, we document the improvement in Michigan’s economic performance in its own domestic context, comparing a range of economic metrics in the Wolverine State to the national average. [...] Although the information in figure 4 is consistent with the rest of our narrative, by itself it does not provide decisive evidence that the recovery in Michigan manufacturing employment is due to policy reforms since 2011, as opposed to the rebound from the recession or changes in the value of the US dollar relative to other currencies. [...] Whereas in the pre-reform period Michigan was, generally speaking, an economic lag- gard within the United States, during the years since the economic reforms the Wolverine State has generally outperformed the rest of the union economically. [...] Michigan: Policy lessons from the Wolverine State / 13 Another way of considering the effect of Michigan’s reforms on the manufacturing sector is to look at the change in the proportion of the econ- omy devoted to manufacturing since 2000 (figure 10).3 Figure 10 Michigan vs.