Let's compare this program to the program of handing out tax rebates by the previous administration. This program has several goals:
1. Stimulate spending (I don't necessarily like this, but I think at this point in time, it may be helpful.)
2. Promote fuel efficiency.
The tax rebate program handed out $300 to pretty much everyone, sometimes more. I lived in Canada at the time of the rebate programs, but still paid lots of taxes to the US, so I qualified. At the time, I was a Post Doctoral Fellow, and had some student loans from 18 years of college. I used the rebates to pay down these loans. I have no clue how this rebate spending stimulated the economy. I am positive that I am not the only one who spent the rebate money in this way.
It would be interesting to see which program in the long term has the better outcome. My guess is on a program which supports heavy industry as well as on fuel efficiency, rather than paying for books from 10 years earlier.