...Then, with one swift and decisive decree, all subsidies were eliminated...

In order to be competitive, farmers had to keep costs down and this meant using resources efficiently. Subsidies for fertilizer had resulted in its wasteful application. Without subsidies, fertilizer use decreased, water quality increased, and yields were not affected. Additionally, farmers fit their production to the land. Marginal land, which was only farmed to receive subsidies, went out of production and reverted to native bush...

Many had worried that the end of subsidies would destroy agriculture in the country, yet the agricultural sector grew as a percentage of GDP...

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Is there any reason why the lessons learned with farm subsidies should not apply to all government subsidies?