What do you think of the GI Bill of the post World War II era? Naturally, I'm asking in regards to the educational opportunities it presented...
I think that the GI Bill might have been part of the rebound from what was a normal post-war depression, in a Keynesian sort of way, but it was a government payout program. It prepared a group of people that would have been typical Americans--farmers, merchants, factory workers, etc.--to become the white-collar and technically educated employees that the Ivy-Leaguers then running the country preferred. But it wasn't the reason for the postwar boom here, just as government wasn't the reason the world dug its way out of the Great Depression.
The reason for the American boom was a combination of the cyclical nature of the world economy, worldwide repopulation, and European and Asian industrial decimation as a result of the war. And I don't believe the GI Bill did anything to ensure that the U.S. will continue that dominance. I am happy that those soldiers got an extra benefit on a personal level, but I don't think it served the country any better than sending the WWI soldiers an advance bonus check would have. In fact, the latter might have been a better choice, because at least the soldiers would have chosen what to do with the money instead of the government.