NPR. This is the indicator from Planet Money. I'm Waylon Wong, joined today by our friend Mary Childs from Planet Money.

Hi, thank you for having me here. It is so great to have you here.

And today, we are talking geopolitics and how they're playing out at the Panama Canal.

As you've probably heard, President Trump has some major grievances with this crucial piece of the global economy.

Yes, he has said that China controls the canal, even though it is owned by Panama.

And just yesterday, the administration scored a victory.

American Investment Fund BlackRock agreed to buy majority stakes in two ports at the Panama Canal.

This deal transfers ownership in these ports, plus dozens of other ports in other countries,

from a Hong Kong-based company to a U.S.-led consortium.

So the Trump administration may be placated on that front, but it remains unhappy about how much the Panama Canal charges for tolls. The president has called these fees a rip-off.

So today on the show, we are going to focus on that.

What does it actually cost to go through the Panama Canal?

And who foots the bill?

We sort out who pays what to use this all-important waterway.

And we talked to someone with his own idea of how pricing could be made more fair.

Are we overlooking the challenges facing men without college degrees?

Richard Reeves thinks so.

There are a lot of guys out there who are actually poorer than their dads.

Reeves heads the American Institute for Boys and Men.

Have we updated our view about the role of men as quickly as we've changed the economy around them?

And the answer is no.

That's from a recent Planet Money bonus episode.

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