How hungover is France right now?

The post-election gueule de bois is not fun. [Bloomberg]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a political salad of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - Macron holds the [kingmaker’s key](. - Keir Starmer should [wait and see](. - Amazon’s [high-low]( shopping spree. - Your [cover letter]( needs ChatGPT. Le Duh Here’s the thing about having a 35-year-old prime minister. Of course he’s gonna have a BeReal account. And of course he’s gonna [post a selfie]( right before he sends his resignation letter to Emmanuel Macron! I would have preferred if he made one of those “watch me quit my job” [TikToks](, but this works, too: Yet for all his attempts, French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal did not quit today. Macron [denied]( his resignation request “to ensure the stability of the country.” This is probably wise, considering Adam Minter [says]( two million or so tourists are about to [pollute their way]( into Paris to see the Olympic games. Plus, France is [hungover](! Best to let the post-election [gueule de bois]( pass before picking a new PM. When Macron called for a snap election in June, the country [braced]( for Marine Le Pen’s far-right takeover. But then something surprising happened during the second round of elections: [The far-left]( swooped in and claimed the biggest delegation, and no one won an outright majority. This, understandably, caused many people to cry in front of [strangers]( and consume copious amounts of [champagne](: Now that the centrists have slipped to second and Le Pen is trailing behind, Lionel Laurent says “Macron has gone from king to kingmaker, and he’ll likely be looking to the left rather than the right for a first shot at a coalition.” But trouble might await him: Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the [poster child]( for the Popular Front (a political salad of hard-left agendas), is firmly against “[parasitic capitalism](.” “It’s not at all clear that international capital markets should be any happier with this than the outcome they’d braced for with Le Pen,” John Authers [warns](. Macron, who was once revered for his presidential [thirst traps](, now finds himself in a less favorable sort of trap: “He remains deeply unpopular — with even his own camp feeling betrayed — and has no more political capital left to ram through his reforms,” Lionel says. “Whatever coalition ends up being cobbled together will take time and will be vulnerable to a level of political division that is virtually unprecedented in the Fifth Republic’s history. At a time of spiraling deficits and a growth trajectory that’s below the euro area average, that will mean tough decisions – like tax increases – and little capacity to address deep-seated issues like productivity, innovation and demographic decline.” Read [the whole thing]( for free. Bonus Europe Reading: Now that populists on the left and the right are more empowered, France might find itself in [a budget standoff]( with EU officials. — Bloomberg’s editorial board Meanwhile in the UK … Although Labour’s [victory]( on July 4 was rather predictable, there were still some surprises, like the [razzle dazzle dress]( that Akshata Murty wore during Rishi Sunak’s farewell speech. Another shock: Marcus Ashworth [says]( “the most notable winners” were actually the UK’s smaller parties, which captured their biggest share of the votes in more than a century: “The emergence of three distinct new political forces — the Green Party, the Reform Party and pro-Palestine independent MPs — has cracked, if not broken, the traditional Westminster mold.” “[Only one in five]( eligible voters put their cross in the box marked Labour. No party in UK electoral history has won this big a majority with so few votes,” Marcus notes. Martin Ivens [says]( the electoral map, which shows centrist Liberal Democrats acquiring “enormous swathes of leafy Tory territory in the affluent south,” illustrates an increasingly fragmented reality. “The country united around one aim — to give the ruling party a good kicking. It isn’t clear that the Tories can recover from popular revulsion in the space of one parliamentary term — or who can or should lead them out of the political wilderness they now find themselves in,” he writes. That wilderness should be music to Keir Starmer’s ears. In fact, Mark Gilbert [thinks]( the Labour leader should be packing his bags for a decade at 10 Downing Street, not just five years. Although Starmer could use some help in the charisma department, he actually has time to make good on his promises — a luxury in today’s political environment. Instead of forcing a mad dash of new policy announcements, the new Labour leader ought to take a slower approach. Telltale Charts Amazon is having a fashion identity crisis that rivals the outfits out of [Coachella]( this year. On one hand, the Everything Store wants to compete with Temu and Shein with [a new discount offering](, and on the other, it wants to be a luxury powerhouse by [helping Saks]( buy Neiman Marcus. “Selling $15 dresses on one part of Amazon looks at odds with selling $1,500 ones on another,” Andrea Felsted [writes](. If Amazon sticks with fast-fashion, it will need to ship goods directly from China, which means shoppers will receive nine-to-11 day shipping estimates that render their Prime subscriptions useless. Plus, “it’s not clear how long Shein and Temu will continue to gain market share,” she says. Temu is losing its luster with consumers, and leaders in Washington are [against]( its data collection practices, despite Catherine Thorbecke [saying]( the shopping platform is in line with industry norms. “Going upmarket is a better option than a race to the bottom,” Andrea concludes. To me, writing a cover letter is like eating a gluten-free bagel with no toppings. It’s a stale, templatized account of your professional life. There’s no space for pizazz. There’s little patience for personality. I don’t blame people who ask ChatGPT for help! But Sarah Green Carmichael [says]( “the right way to use the tool, experts agree, is as a sparring partner to hone your own thinking.” Rather than typing, “please write me a cover letter for XYZ job,” into the search bar, you should write a draft first and then ask the AI for a critique. Sarah tried it with some old cover letters she had saved and said “the ChatGPT-ified versions sounded more natural than the original drafts.” Some would call this cheating, but so many people are using AI at this point — even economists, [according to]( Daniel Moss — it’d be unfair *not* to engage with it. If you can’t beat them, join them! Further Reading The [biofuel sector]( is the next deflating green bubble. — Javier Blas Don’t ban Airbnb; [help residents]( recoup their housing costs. — Betsey Stevenson The Pentagon’s [drone project]( could deter China in Taiwan. — Andreas Kluth A [giant carbon dump]( gives us a glimpse into our net-zero future. — Liam Denning Democrats need [Kamala Harris]( to be hyper-visible. — Erika D. Smith In London, a proposal to [rival the Shard]( gets postponed. — Howard Chua-Eoan Japan [is wrestling]( with its own flawed leader. — Gearoid Reidy ICYMI [Alice Munro’s]( daughter [recounts]( childhood sex abuse. Eric Adams [hard-launches]( NYC’s official [trash bin](. Pope Francis thinks [democracy]( is in bad shape. Emma Navarro could be the next [US tennis]( star. Kickers Not every NBA player can [spin a ball]( on their finger. What we’re actually [reading on the beach]( in 2024. An American idiot [went swimming]( in the Seine. Gen Z is already [contemplating]( death. McDonald’s [needs to stop it]( with the salads. Notes: Please send [Big Macs]( and feedback to Jessica Karl at jkarl9@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Threads](, [TikTok](, [Twitter](, [Instagram]( and [Facebook](. Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](. Want to sponsor this newsletter? [Get in touch here](. 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