This morning, the New York Post put an editorial on its front page, with giant wood:

Dear Mr. President

DON’T KILL THE GOLDEN GOOSE

City economy imperiled in the name of ‘reform’

Good stuff. The editorial continues: “One in 12 working New Yorkers are connected to the financial sector, which generates fully 40 percent of the city’s business and personal-tax revenue. Every $1 billion in Wall Street profits means $70 million in direct taxes to the city’s cash-starved coffers.”

If I were a cynical man, I would compare this to a mob boss pleading before a judge that he should not go to jail on racketeering charges because he has so many nieces and nephews to support. But I think Barbara Kiviat has a better metaphor over at the Curious Capitalist.

Maybe New York City shouldn’t be so dependent on such an alcoholic boyfriend of an industry. When times are good, they’re really good. But when times are bad, we all get smacked around and the economy goes kaboom. As the city’s Independent Budget Office recently pointed out, financial re-regulation may crimp the profitability of financial firms, but it may also leave a less volatile industry at the city’s core.