Whatever You Measure

by Craig Wiesner - San Mateo Daily Journal - October 19, 2026

In December 2024 I drafted a version of this column but set it aside. Dusting it off now feels like a good way to head into election day. As former President Barack Obama famously said, “elections have consequences.” With a Republican president, a Republican majority in Congress, a conservative majority Supreme Court and quite the cast of characters in the cabinet and other top federal positions for 22 months, those consequences are pretty clear. 

Back when I studied business management we learned the concept that “what gets measured gets improved,” which is often attributed to Peter Drucker. Here are some of the key indicators I’ve been watching. Let me say that these numbers may not be perfect. I did my best to get several sources for each number but you know the reality - ask the Internet a question and you’ll get many different answers, some of them correct.

In January 2025, the average price for a dozen eggs was $4.15, a gallon of milk $4.36, a pound of ground beef $5.60, a gallon of gas $3.04, diesel $3.50. Today eggs are $2.27, milk $4.24, ground beef $6.92, gas $4.37 and diesel $6.19. The average price for a new car was $47,612 and today it is $52,382. The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment nationally was $1,559. Today it is $1,932. In 2024 salaries grew 3.7%. With inflation 3.4%, salaries outpaced inflation. In 2026 workers lost ground with inflation 3.7% and wage growth 3%. There was a budget surplus when Clinton left office, a deficit of $587 billion under Obama, rising to $1.8 trillion in 2024 and $2 trillion today. In January 2025 the national debt was $36.2 trillion, $40.31 trillion today. The Dow Jones closed 2024 at 42,544. Last week it was 51,697. 1.4 million jobs were created in 2024, 181,000 in 2025, 556,000 so far this year. The average mortgage interest rate was 6.4% in 2024 and is 7.4% now. Individual healthcare (ACA) premiums increased 7% in 2024, 6% in 2025, and 58% in 2026. Prescription drug prices dropped 0.7% in 2025 and 3.9% in 2026. Residential utility bills rose 12.5% since January 2025. At the end of 2024 the Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index was 104.7. Today it is 81.9. 

In 2024 the average tariff on items entering the U.S. was 2.4%. Today it is 11.6%. 2025 tariffs on products entering the United States fluctuated wildly between 10% and 125% depending on the president’s feelings about each country of origin on any given day. 

As a small business owner I track the price I pay for every item I sell. The cost of those tariffs has been added, to some degree, to virtually every product from around the world. My U.S. suppliers/importers pay those tariffs, pass some or all of that cost to me, and I have to decide how much of that I add to the prices I charge. Other countries do not pay those tariffs. You and I do. In 2024 the national trade deficit was $918 billion, projected to increase to $1.29 trillion this year. That’s the opposite of what the president promised his tariffs would achieve.

271,484 people were deported in 2024, 320,000 in 2025, and on pace for 617,000 in 2026. In 2024 Customs and Border Protection encountered approximately 8,000 people a day at the border. Today that number is below 300. In 2024, approximately 38,000 people were held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention on any given day, at a cost of $3.4 billion a year. In 2026 the average is 73,000 at a cost of $14 billion. Eleven people died in detention in 2024, 35 in 2025 and so far this year at least 28 people have died. 

In 2021 13 U.S. troops were killed and 18 wounded in a suicide bombing during our final evacuation from Afghanistan. So far in 2026 21 troops have been killed and 905 wounded in our war with Iran. 

In 2024 there were 285 confirmed measles cases and zero deaths. In 2026, so far, there have been 4,080 cases and five deaths. 1.2 million children lost access to federal food assistance (SNAP) in 2026, with food pantry demand up 30-50% depending on the region.

Violent crime dropped 4.5% in 2024 with a record drop of 9.3% since the president took office. 

So, Peter Drucker aside, do you feel better off today than you did two years ago? We’ll measure how American voters feel in two weeks. VOTE!

Craig Wiesner is the co-owner of Reach And Teach, a book, toy and cultural gift shop on San Carlos Avenue in San Carlos. Follow Craig: craigwiesner.bsky.social.