Is it possible that in the midst of a recession, companies are thinking twice about paying outrageous fees for advice from some underling hired by America's most comical Presidential campaign failure, Rudy Giuliani? It's possible.

America's mayor may be the economic downturn's littlest victim. The Post says that his laughable "consulting" firm, originally created to smelt nickels out of the smoking husk of the World Trade Center, is flagging:

The firm's client list has thinned out in the past few years, as have partner salaries, the sources said. Some partners have left, and some support staffers let go.

The former mayor himself is infrequently there, the sources said, adding that he's still working the speaker's circuit hard and making international trips.

Incredible! Has the market for clientss eager to pay money to a firm nominally led by a man who turned an early Presidential campaign lead into utter collapse through sheer bad planning shrunk somehow? One would think that there's always a great pool of suckers ready to pay some lazy fascist to help them "solve critical strategic issues, accelerate growth, and enhance the reputation and brand of their organizations in the context of strongly held values." (Values: Rudy Giuliani loves money; Rudy Giuliani would kill your fucking kitten for some press; Sadism in general.)

The firm says no, things are fine, although they acknowledge the company's "down to about 30 employees from the 60 it had about two years ago." You know who else I hear has experienced similar shrinkage? Ronn [sic] Torossian's 5WPR. Birds of a feather. [NYP]