How NOT to get rid of a subsidy/entitlement

You think you’d have a better plan than to completely end subsidies cold-turkey like this. Maybe a plan to gradually remove them over a year or two so that markets can adjust and that the new revenues can be put to work visibly.  Instead, you get protests, rioting, and people stockpiling basic necessities.

Protests surged as gasoline prices soared by as much as 73 percent and diesel by 83 percent. The cost of food and transportation also reportedly increased.

For Bolivia’s president, subsidy cut could have political price – CNN.com