Abstract The article analyses the trends in global capitalism. It is argued that liberalisation has increased competition between workers, smaller firms and states, as well as within the public sector. At the global level, however, competition and therefore genuine market economy has been weakened; economic power has been concentrated due to mergers and acquisitions and more cooperation between the transnational corporations. It is shown that the weight of these corporations has increased significantly between 1990 and 2001. On the basis of this evidence, it is argued that competitive market economy is giving way to capitalistic plan economy.