[sobani]

> any historical examples where government policy other than deregulation has increased the efficiency with which a resource is used?

Not really an example, but any government policy that deals with a tragedy of the commons situation.

Take for example the NW Atlantic cod fishery: "In the summer of 1992, when the Northern Cod biomass fell to 1% of earlier levels [...]" [0] I'm sure that if Canada, the US and Greenland had come together and determined a fishing quota, those fishermen would still have a job today. Instead they were so 'efficient' that there was nothing left for them to catch.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collapse_of_the_Atlantic_north...