In an article originally written and published last Friday, Alan Woods – editor of In Defence of Marxism – looks at the impact of the latest events in France, where two armed gunmen attacked staff and security at the Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo, a satirical newspaper, killing a dozen people and injuring many more. These events have sent shock waves across France, the whole of Europe, and beyond.

The terrorist attack against the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo has caused a huge wave of anger and indignation throughout France. The labour movement, however, must not let this horrific attack be used as an excuse for the hypocrisy, racism, and exploitation of the ruling class.

Twelve months ago the economists were predicting that 2014 would be the Year of Recovery. One year later nobody seriously maintains that vain illusion. The bourgeois economists do not understand the crisis and have no solution. It is a case of the blind leading the blind. Alan Woods analyses the state of the world economy at the dawn of the New Year.