Yesterday’s discussion on the morality of finance sparked some interesting posts—thanks to all of you who contributed. Here’s one new and provocative offshoot.

I’ve lived in NY my whole life and I love the place, but the fact is, New York no longer matters. It is no longer the culture capital (that would be Los Angeles), the entrepreneurial capital (that’s Silicon Valley), or even the food capital (San Francisco). Why, it’s not even the city immigrants come to to make a start. But it is still the financial capital. Which is why it has been overrun with Wall Street types.

Los Angeles the capital of culture? The mind reels…but not necessarily because the proposition is wrong. Silicon Valley as center of entepreneurial capital? Sounds about right. San Francisco the capital of food? I’d argue with that. New York not the city immigrants come to? I’d argue with that too.

Out of all those statements, the one that seems most interesting to me is that New York is no longer the capital of culture. If so, it’s because of the Web’s impact on journalism and television and film’s impact on literature. It’s no coincidence that yesterday Time Inc. announced yet another round of layoffs at its magazines, even as it announced investments in its websites.