Ibn Khaldun: An Arab Scholar 21st Century Politicians Could Learn From

Did a famous 14th century Muslim scholar see the future? Nope.

He just understood economics and incentives.

"Eventually, the taxes will weigh heavily upon the subjects and overburden them. Heavy taxes become an obligation and tradition because the increases took place gradually, and no one knows specifically who increased them or levied them...

The result is that the interest of the subjects in cultural enterprises disappears, since when they compare expenditures and taxes with their income and gain and see the little profit they make, they lose all hope...Finally, civilization is destroyed, because the incentive for activity is gone."