Yes, short term subsidies would cause less distortion to markets and might plausibly result in a net benefit to society (especially if externalities are involved and the subsidies are only relied upon until the externalities are brought into the economic transactions).
However, has there ever been a short term government subsidy? History would suggest that subsidies take on a life of their own and are very hard to kill once they’ve been given life.
RE: Week 13 Response -- Subsidies