In the beautiful, but poor, Asturias region in north-western Spain, the subsidy underwrites production of coal at seven times the world price.

ECONOMIST: Coal in Europe

The provider of thin-film solar products recently warned that it was reducing production in the face of subsidy cuts in Italy and France, and the stock slumped.

FORBES: Energy Conversion: Morgan Stanley Cuts Rating; Target $1

According to a 2008 investigation by Iowa Auditor David Vaudt, 80% of tax credits issued under the state's film-subsidy program had been issued improperly (to production companies that weren't even spending the money in Iowa, for example).

WSJ: Glenn Reynolds: The Hollywood Tax Story They Won't Tell at the Oscars

America's ethanol subsidy, which has led to a huge rise in production, rocketing maize prices and consequent rioting in Mexico, is the sharpest example of why government should not pick winners: once the fertiliser and fuel used in corn production are taken into account, ethanol is probably not much greener than petrol.

ECONOMIST: Climate change

Europe has similarly daft subsidy regimes with equally perverse consequences the German subsidy for solar energy, for instance, which has diverted the world's solar-cell production to sun-free Germany, thus raising the price in sunny countries where it might be usefully employed.

ECONOMIST: Climate change