A concise and straightforward presentation of the serious flaws in laissez faire capitalism. United States public policy on taxation and public services is reviewed for the period starting in the 1920s and extending to 2010. It is pointed out that the policies adopted to cope with World War II accidentally ended the "Great Depression" very quickly. The correlation between a period of low tax rate / minimal public services policy and a resulting "Great Depression" or "Great Recession" is shown. It is pointed out that the period of low tax rate policy initiated about 1980 also initiated a rapid increase in the national debt which is still in progress (as of 2012). And that the high progressive tax rates and massive federal expenditures used to pursue WWII did not interfere with the sudden demise of the "Great Depression" at all, which is contrary to current political dogma.