[C320-list] Recent traffic

[Rick Sonntag]

I think the decline of sailing's popularity parallels that of golf. Both
hobbies draw from a similar demographic, and that demographic is "aging
out" of the sport without any significant replenishment from the younger
generation. The reasons for the lack of replenishment are numerous, from
the widely observed decline of the middle class to the fragmentation of the
market for other competing leisure activities (there are now far more
options including health clubs, higher participation of youth in scheduled
activities, thousands of cable channels, millions of options for digital
content of all types).

​The claim that middle class economic woes are caused by ​growth in taxes
in the US is not supported by the facts. US Federal taxes as a % of GDP are
about where they were in the 1960s and 1970s, and have come down
significantly since the late 1990s. And the economy in the late 1990s, when
taxes as % of GDP were highest, is one that many would love to have today.
See the "Totals" column at
http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxfacts/displayafact.cfm?Docid=205 .