Stereolab’s song “Ping Pong” does a wonderful job of conveying several important economic concepts, namely the “anarchy of production” which we have under capitalism, and the periodic crises resulting from overaccumulation and imperial conflict.

The lyrics go

It’s alright, ‘cause the historical pattern has shown
How the economical cycle tends to revolve
In a round of decades, three stages stand out in a loop
A slump and war, then peel back to square one and back for more

You see, the recovery always comes ‘round again
There’s nothing to worry for, things will look after themselves
It’s alright, recovery always comes ‘round again
There’s nothing to worry if things can only get better

We know our system is prone to periodic crisis, and yet because of the lack of planning, there is no way to address this. We can only shrug and let things “look after themselves”.

There’s only millions that lose their jobs
And homes and sometimes accents
There’s only millions that die
In their bloody wars, it’s alright

…

It’s only their lives and the lives
Of their next of kin that they are losing

These crises cause mass suffering, but supposedly nothing can be done about it. This is a result of the “anarchy of production” in which no one is actually planning anything or trying to address problems directly, and instead we blindly produce according to what makes money, hoping that things will work out. Except of course, for the millions who are thrown onto the street, die in wars, forced to leave their countries, etc., things do not just work out.

Don’t worry, be happy
Things will get better naturally
Don’t worry, shut up, sit down
Go with it and be happy

The lyrics do a wonderful job of capturing the madness of this state of affairs, encouraging us to close our eyes and assume things will be fine, when they so clearly are not. In the present day moment the clearest example of this is the climate crisis, which worsens by the day, and yet about which nothing is being done due to the anarchy of production and our inability to plan consciously.