Yes, there is.
From your countries home page, go to settings link, then automation. Uncheck the beginners help box that says beginners economic and general protection and save.
There are several boxes there, read the explanation for each one, like 'automatically build corps' you might want to make sure is off.
Be careful of changing your sell and buy strats too much. The automation, while not perfect, is not far from best, especially for a newer player.