So what have we learned in two millennia?

"The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled,
public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should
be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands
should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again
learn to work, instead of living on public assistance."
--Cicero, 55 BC

Evidently, not a damn thing...