A new year and new president present a chance to measure policy impacts.

The beginning of January is a traditional time to take stock, firm up some plans and even make a resolution or two. It’s a time of opportunity; part of the symbolism of the new year is that there is much that is unknown, and in that mystery, maybe there is some promise. Or dread.

Donald Trump’s second term as president presents itself similarly.

While I’m an optimist by disposition, I am a skeptic by occupation. The voters have spoken, and Trump will be inaugurated in a few short weeks. I want to give him the benefit of the doubt. We all heard during the campaign that where everything is broken, Trump will fix it.

I am not naïve, and Trump’s recent lawsuit against The Des Moines Register newspaper, its parent company Gannett and the pollster Ann Selzer – for publishing the results of a poll before the election showing Trump trailing Kamala Harris in Iowa – is a clear indication of what is in store for media outlets that publish stories the president-elect deems unfavorable.

I’m also doubtful that Trump’s definition of fixing the legal status for undocumented immigrants in Monterey County, reproductive rights for women in this country or the threats that climate change poses for the planet are anything like what I’d consider a repair.

But rather than foretell bad things that might happen, I am going to do a long-range study on some of what does happen.

It is my opinion that the election was fundamentally about the prices people are paying for stuff at the store. Trump’s proposed economic fixes so far are tax cuts and tariffs. So I’m going to focus my long-range study on those economic policies.

Here’s the plan: I’ll track the prices and rates of a select range of products and indicators every three months and report back in two years on what I’ve found.

I can offer in data form what “Trump fixing it” means.

It’s a not quite random list of products, as they are of personal interest to me. My hope is that by indexing the prices of tequila and avocados from Mexico, solar panels from China, newsprint from Canada and the Ford F-150 Lightning – as well as the rate on 10-year U.S. Treasury bonds and the California unemployment rate – I can offer a snapshot in data form of what “Trump fixing it” means.

I have enlisted experts to help me compare apples to apples. It’s a tricky exercise; avocados are seasonal and the price of some bottles is always on special at the liquor store. The same holds true with trucks – rebates and discounts fluctuate constantly and right now there is a generous tax credit when buying an electrical vehicle manufactured domestically. The treasury rate and the California unemployment rate are, by contrast, publicly reported, routinely updated data points.

I’ve recruited the national newsprint broker who supplies the paper to the San Francisco Examiner, the plant where the Weekly is printed, to track the price of paper. The regional sales manager of the largest liquor distributor will track the wholesale price of a case of Patron (less incentives). I’ve got a local solar provider to offer me the industry newsletter showing the price of modules for large-scale (but not utility-sized) solar module purchases.

In conversations with these industry pros, it was suggested repeatedly that I also track the price of domestic products in the same categories, because although they may not be subject to tariffs, it is likely that their prices will be influenced by the market.

As a result, I’m going to expand my list to include newsprint from Washington and Oregon. (The reason much of the newsprint in this country comes from Canada is that the mills that used to produce that product have retooled to make cardboard to satisfy online retailers.) I’m also adding solar panels produced domestically, as well as those finished in Malaysia and Singapore, plus Makers Mark bourbon from Kentucky. I’m going to check the price of the Tesla Model Y, as it is the bestselling electric vehicle – not to mention that Elon Musk now occupies a central place in Trump’s orbit. And because immigration policies may well have economic impact, I’m also going to track the wholesale price of a case of romaine lettuce from the Salinas Valley.

I look forward to reporting back midterm in 2027, after I’ve collected the data.

And in the meantime, Happy New Year.

ERIK CUSHMAN is the Weekly’s publisher. Reach him at erik@montereycountynow.com