Le Monde, the Paris-based newspaper that is the New York Times of France, published a long article on the crisis of Detroit in the Janvier issue of its monthly magazine, Le Monde Diplomatique.
Titled "Detroit, the shrinking African-American city," the article covers the mostly familiar ground of demographic change, job loss, foreclosed homes, fires, health problems, the history of the auto industry and "the relentless sound of chirping grasshoppers" in rural-like neighborhoods of the city.
Unlike Time Magazine in September, Le Monde gets it right when it comes to the origins of Detroit's crisis, pegging that transformation to the post-war years, when the city's economy began to undergo trememendous change.
One original thought: Le Monde asks why, in the face of such monumental problems, no one is protesting in the streets or going on strike in the factories.
[[Le Monde has an English-language web site, but the article is available only to subscribers. I found a hard copy at Borders.)