Competition, monopoly and planning: the market vs socialism
Channel: In Defence of Marxism
Date: 29/11/2022

The defenders of capitalism like to tell us stories about free competition and the wonders of the market mechanism. But can we really talk about a 'free' market, when the world economy is dominated by 500 monopolies?

The development of capitalism has brought into being massive multinational corporations, most of them 'too big to fail', as we saw in 2008, when the state intervened to prop up many of them. These companies engage in planning on a massive scale, whilst, of course, claiming that planning is impossible.

Yet, at the same time the world market still maintains its chaotic existence, dominating everything and wreaking havoc across the world. How would socialist planning be different and what advantages do modern technology bring?