Landlocked nation desperately seeking beachfront property

Plus: Therapy could make you rich! [Bloomberg]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a landlocked country of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - Ethiopia has a [seacoast pitch](. - [Therapy]( could make you rich. - BYD’s [sales growth]( is no glitch. - Britain’s [housing model]( is in a ditch. Ethiopia’s Thirst Trap If Ethiopia — the world’s most populous country without sea access — were to put out a Craigslist “wanted” ad for some costal land, Javier Blas [imagines]( it would look something like this: “Landlocked country seeks a stretch of seacoast; payment for lease or purchase is negotiable, but cash is out of the question; motivated buyer is prepared to sweeten any contract with some freebies.” I took the liberty of doctoring up a used Toyota Corolla ad with some [Inspect Element-ing]( and voila, there you have it! Ethiopia’s cry for help: Although many sellers were too skeptical to do a deal with an impoverished nation that’s in the midst of a civil war, one did take the bait: Somaliland. But there’s a teeny, tiny problem with that: the international community [says the deal is illegal](. You see, Somaliland is a breakaway nation. It has fewer credentials than a preschooler. The United Nations still says the owner of the land is Somalia. And Ethiopia is no saint, either. On Christmas day, it [defaulted]( on its international sovereign debt. Instead of cash, Javier says it’s [offering]( Somaliland a chunk of its state-owned airline. Oh, and there’s also the fact that Ethiopia says it will accept Somaliland as a legit state, something the breakaway nation has desired since it declared independence in 1991. “The deal between Ethiopia and Somaliland is more than a historical oddity; it could deepen difficulties in a crucial choke point for global trade,” he argues. Cutting Somalia in half could have disastrous consequences because it’s located in the Horn of Africa, a region that controls the mouth of the [already dangerous]( Red Sea. More than 15% of the [world’s trade]( passes through the route. Just this week, Iran sent a [warship]( to the critical waterway after the US Navy destroyed three boats of the Iran-backed Houthi rebels. “Unlike the Somali pirates of a decade ago, with their rusty AK-47s, flip-flops and small speedboats, these Houthis have modern helicopters, SEAL-like armament and skills, ground-based missiles, and are clearly operating with significant intelligence support,” James Stavridis [writes]( (free read). Maersk, MSC and Evergreen have [suspended]( their shipping operations through the Red Sea “until further notice.” Is now really a good time for Ethiopia to rock the boat even further? Just because someone responds to your Craigslist ad doesn’t mean you should accept their offer. Therapy Session You know the meme that says “men will literally do X instead of going to therapy”? The first known iteration of it is from [Spencer Klavan]( in 2020: “Men will literally defend an entire civilization from ruin in two world wars, start and provide for a family, produce masterworks of art and culture, and then just NOT go to therapy smdh,” he tweeted. Since then, [the meme]( has spread all over the internet. Men will literally build [hot dog race tracks](, spend $10,000 on [an espresso setup]( and be on the receiving end of a [strategic bombardment campaign]( *instead* of going to therapy: But what if these men knew therapy would make them wealthy? In what might be the most helpful [opinion column]( of the century (free for you — and your psychologist — to read), Tyler Cowen says if you want to make money, you should go to therapy. Contrary to what you [may have heard](, you don’t have to be [smart]( to be rich! You just need to trauma-dump your family [holiday]( horror stories on a therapist instead. A new branch of economic [research]( into psychological interventions or “[nudges](” shows how therapy is a promising tool for economic self-improvement. One [study]( in Ethiopia — hello again — found that people who had seen short films about entrepreneurial success in their community ended up working more, saving more and investing more in education, relative to those who had not seen the films. “Even five years later, households that had seen the films had accumulated more wealth, and their children had on average 0.43 more years of education, which typically is considered an impressive effect,” Tyler writes. In Mexico, a similar experiment took place and was a success. One [survey]( of lower- and middle-income countries found that psychotherapeutic treatments could also boost employment outcomes. None of these results suggest that there’s a “psychology of poverty” to be overcome by external interventions, Tyler notes. But marginal gains can be made by investing in psychological and psychotherapeutic infrastructure. “Countries can make therapeutic help more accessible and affordable, and foster a culture in which people feel comfortable seeking it out,” he concludes. Read [the whole thing]( — and book a therapy appointment, while you’re at it. God forbid you turn into [a meme](. Telltale Charts Chinese carmaker BYD’s market capitalization may be just one-tenth the size of Tesla’s, but don’t be fooled: The EV maker is a complete monster, destructing every obstacle in its way. It’s now the world’s [biggest producer]( of battery passenger cars. And in the December quarter alone, it sold 526,409 battery-electric vehicles — a solid notch above Tesla’s 484,507. “On almost every financial metric, the Chinese company is either advancing on, or overtaking its American rival — with its gaze already set on the wider car industry,” David Fickling [writes](. Because the Chinese carmaker has complete control over its battery supply chain and uses cheaper, more readily available materials to build its cars, margins have lifted even as costs rose. Now, BYD is “spitting out profits that have led to the best returns on equity among major automakers worldwide.” Take that, Tesla: One of the most basic, obnoxious things about me is that I love Pamplemousse LaCroix. My sister and I drink them nearly every night. We even have a name for it: the “sparkle drink.” Although LaCroix has more than 30 [flavors](, the French grapefruit kind is the only one that has me in a chokehold. Where would I be without it? I don’t know, but that was the question I asked myself after reading [this passage]( from Matthew Brooker: Imagine going to buy a new car and finding there were only three or four models available, all in the same color. Or visiting the local supermarket and discovering the shelves were stocked only with one variety each of bread, meat and vegetable. A flashback to the communist countries of the former Eastern Bloc? Try the UK’s new-build housing market in the 21st century. Matthew goes on to explain how Britons buying new homes are forced to choose from a select group of mega-companies that crank out hundreds of similar-looking houses. If that sounds familiar to you, perhaps you grew up in one of America’s many [beige culs-de-sac]( — the pinnacle of domestic monoculture. But “not all property markets in developed nations work this way,” he writes. In Germany, they’ve got a self-commissioned housing [website]( that lets you pick from 2,400 blueprints and 350 construction companies. I don’t want to be drinking the same flavor of LaCroix in the same house with the same car in the driveway as everybody else, and neither should you: Further Reading The EU averted disaster with [a new fiscal deal](. But it still contains some of the old one’s flaws. — Bloomberg’s editorial board Democracy will get [a reckoning]( in Asia this year — more than a billion voters will head to the polls. — Karishma Vaswani The [earthquake]( that struck Japan was devastating, but could have been much worse. — Gearoid Reidy Saying the [pound will fall]( apart is a bold prediction, but it misses the point. — Marcus Ashworth The [clean technology]( sector is far too young to be left alone. — Liam Denning Central banks created [the world]( we live in. — Daniel Moss ICYMI Iran says almost 100 were killed in [blasts](. The East Coast is [bracing]( for [snow](. Starbucks accepts [reusable cups]( at drive-thrus. A fire broke out at [the home]( of NFL star Tyreek Hill. Kickers Vans CEO needs to [make Vans cool]( again. (h/t Victoria Benning) Would you rather pay your rent or get an [$1,800]( facial? Inside the [Three Crabs Fish Sauce]( cult of cooks. The auction for this [Plaza apartment]( starts at $1. You Are Out of This World We’re going to space!!! That’s right, Bloomberg Opinion Today — in name only — will be traveling 1.8 billion miles on [NASA’s]( [Europa Clipper spacecraft]( to see if the mysterious ocean world of Europa supports life. Special thanks to Earl K, who told me about NASA’s Message in a Bottle thingamajig. “Just think, in 2030 we’ll still have a 1.8 billion mile journey by name … that our tax dollars paid for,” he said in an email. You can add your name — and those of all your dead pets — [here](. Notes: Please send space food 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? 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