Biden’s not the only leader who needs more sleep

The year of elections is giving everyone insomnia. [Bloomberg]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a spinning teacup of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. On Sundays, we look at the major themes of the week past and how they will define the week ahead. Sign up for the daily newsletter [here](. [You Should See Me in a Crown]( “Heavy lies the crown.” If so, a whole bunch of leaders around the world are pretty darn stooped right now. That aphorism, btw, is likely a misquote from Shakespeare’s Henry IV Part 2, the one where Prince Hal dumps Falstaff and becomes a bit of a prig. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we all know the whole [St. Crispin’s Day Band of Brothers]([1](#footnote-1) Agincourt pep talk thing is coming up next in the [Henriad](, and that’s awesome, but the great Shakespeare scholar Harold Bloom [passed along]( the wisdom that “Falstaff’s function was to humanize Hal.” If only the [current British king]( had somebody with that function.[2](#footnote-2) The actual line from the play is, “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown,” and is generally thought to refer not to the weight of a headpiece but to tossing and turning and waking before the [second cock hath crowed](.� President Joe Biden has been ridiculed for saying he [needs more shuteye]( — but if we take Shakespeare literally, that’s nothing to mock. We all should be rested and ready: Anyway, those other global leaders find themselves in a fix: France’s Emmanuel Macron is said to sleep [three to four hours]( a night; India’s Narendra Modi [as little as two](; Britain’s Keir Starmer told his monarch he is getting [“not much sleep”]( (neither did [Maggie Thatcher](); things are a bit more opaque with China’s Xi Jinping — aren’t they always — but he apparently [breakfasts before dawn](. The outlier is Japan’s Fumio Kishida, who says he’s “sleeping soundly” — despite [living in a haunted house](!?[3](#footnote-3) Let’s start with Starmer. Coming flush off a landslide Labour victory, why should he be troubled? For one, this “landslide” consisted of about a third of voters. (Yeesh, the guy who delivered his party’s manifesto in a [spinning teacup]( got 12%.) Second, Mark Gilbert [called]( him “Parliament’s Ringo Starr.” Ouch. Clive Crook isn’t much more flattering. “The Labour Party’s sweeping victory in the UK elections marks, you might think, a dramatic shift in the country’s prospects. If only,” Clive [writes](. “Labour’s campaign theme was appropriately succinct: ‘Change.’ (In other words, ‘Anything But This.’) Unfortunately, delivering the right kind of change will be beyond difficult.” Why? Historically high taxes; underfunded services; mounting public debt; anemic economic growth; hospitals besieged by Dolly Parton’s [Nine to Five]( — it’s not quite the [Winter of Discontent](, maybe more of a Summer of Shirtiness. No wonder Clive proffers the new regime his “congratulations — and condolences.” If Britain’s election result wasn’t totally clear, France’s was more of a ... Mon Dieu, qu’est-ce qui se passe ici???? After weeks of [the US press](fretting about the coming populist rout, “snap parliamentary elections on July 7 showed French voters remarkably united on keeping far-right leader Marine Le Pen out of power but divided on everything else,” [reports]( Lionel Laurent. Here’s the tally: The left won 178 parliamentary seats, Macron’s centrist assemblage notched 156 and Le Pen’s National Rally and allies took 143. “Instead of accepting that nobody has won, politicians seem to think everyone has,” adds Lionel. “What began as ‘House of Cards’ has become something like an episode of ‘Survivor.’ ” And it’s just as conspiracy-ridden: Will Macron really [grab de Gaulle’s]( [Immunity Idol](? As for Modi, while the NATO allies were having their 75th birthday party in Washington, and Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital lay in smoking ruins[4](#footnote-4), the Indian prime minister was [hugging it out]( with Vladimir Putin in Moscow.[5](#footnote-5) “Modi’s party lost its majority and will have to depend upon allies to rule. Does this visit to Russia portend a shift for the politically wounded prime minister?” [asks]( Mihir Sharma. “Modi has managed to balance growing closeness with the US and friendships with US rivals such as Iran and Russia. But everyone tires of balancing acts. There is no reason to suppose this one will define Modi’s third term as it did his first two.” Also struggling with equilibrium: Fumio Kishida. “In a year where overconfident incumbents are getting their comeuppance the world over, decision time is looming in Tokyo, too,” Gearoid Reidy [writes](. This seems odd. Under Kishida, Japan’s [stock market]( is booming and the [military budget]( is zooming. So why is he facing a threat to his party leadership? “A successful LDP leader must be able to unite the party’s broad church, without leaning too far to either left or right,” Gearoid explains. “But they also must have a connection with the public. This is where Kishida has stumbled.” As to whether he will stubbornly stick it out or, perhaps, turn the party over to a [younger]( [generation](: “Kishida needs to ask himself if this is the right course — for himself, for his party, and for the country.” [He’s not the only one](. Bonus [Leaders of Men]( Reading: - UK Housing Crisis Is Missing Its [‘Big Bang’]( Moment — Matthew Brooker - Macron the Gambler Wins Chance to [Play Kingmaker]( — Lionel Laurent - Tokyo Isn’t [Paving Paradise]( to Put Up a Parking Lot — Gearoid Reidy [What’s the World Got in Store](? - England v. Spain!, July 14: Cuts Are Back in the Air After [Inflation Surprise]( — John Authers and Richard Abbey - UK CPI, July 17: Labour [May Have the Fix]( the UK Economy Needs — Mohamed A. El-Erian [History Eraser]( Speaking of monarchs who could use some humanizing, man oh man: Source: Sina Weibo When he’s not [looking like]( somebody’s grandfather gone clamming at Coney Island, Xi Jinping is working “at high speed and with great energy,” is “at work both at day and night,” and “finds joy in exhaustion” both in the office and at home. That, folks, is the state-funded Shanghai Observer’s attempt to make Emperor Xi appear relatable. What could possibly give such a busy bee sleepless nights? “The world’s second-largest economy is in a slump. Foreign investment is at a 30-year [low](, the property sector is [struggling](, and the corridors of power in Beijing are looking chaotic, with [mysterious]( purges of several ministers,” Karishma Vaswani [writes](. “Xi Jinping has a chance to turn China’s fortunes around at this year’s [Third]( Plenum. He should put his [theories]( aside, and take a leaf from the history books for inspiration.” No, not this history book: Photographer: Ryan Pyle/Corbis via Getty Images “The conclave, typically held once every five years, can set the stage for [significant policy shifts](,” Karishma notes. “The meeting in 1978, for instance, was pivotal — it brought about massive changes, moving the country away from ‘class struggle’ to a period of reform and opening up under then-leader Deng Xiaoping. It changed the course of China’s development and brought about decades of generational wealth growth.” Minxin Pei finds inspiration in a different, darker history: The escalating tensions between the UK and Germany that led to World War I. “The primary driver of the British-German rivalry was Germany’s rapid rise as a great power poised to dominate continental Europe,” Minxin [writes](. “Today, China’s ascendance and likely dominance of Asia threatens the regional balance of power and US global primacy … The Great War was an accident waiting to happen.” That thought should keep us all awake at night. Notes: Please send Dolly Parton bootlegs and feedback to Tobin Harshaw at tharshaw@bloomberg.net. [1] I give props to Laurence Olivier for managing to turn Henry V into [World War II propaganda](, but jeez his performance was stiff. Maybe great stage actors should stay off the big screen? Whereas Kenneth Branagh [nails it](. [2] In fairness, Max Hastings [tells us]( that Queen Camilla is "fun," and I'd be more than happy to head over to the Royal Couple's new [$6 million pad]( on Billionaire's Row and lighten the mood. [3] Hamlet had ghosts too! Also that guy in the Scottish Play with the scheming wife! [4] [From the AP](: "UN Security Council members confronted Russia on Tuesday over a missile strike the previous day that destroyed part of Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital, pouring out condemnations at an emergency meeting chaired by Moscow’s own ambassador." Sometimes the UN is such a parody of itself you don't know whether to laugh or cry. [5] Tsar Vladimir of [Great Rus]( says he used to do a bizarre sort of [pro wresting tag-team thing]( with ex-President Dmitry Medvedev, but now [sleeps 'til noon](, so for once he’s not really part of this column. Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? 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