Weekly FR Boating Thread ~ Vol. 5 ~ Feb. 24, 2012 ~ Effects of the Economy on Boating If the boating market is a barometer of the economy - perhaps we are currently in the eye of the storm.. When the economy heads south, boating is one of the first things people stop doing, and one of the last things people start doing again when the economy warms up. If you listed things from need to not need; food, water, clothing, shelter would be at the beginning the list, and boating would be second to last, right before owning property...