"Put down that wrench!"

Per-student-capita funding declined by 50% from 1980-2000, yes. I believe that both per-capita funding and funding as a proportion of GDP also declined over the same period, but I don't have the figures to hand.

Look at the figures from UCU here: http://www.ucu.org.uk/media/html/losingvitalinvestment1.html

Also, look at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1468-0297.00102