Number going up, or some feedback of the results, would be a benefit. However, your OP did not seem to mention anything of the sort. Just make things illegal for its sake so the player feels good hurting himself by removing income and no other effects (since you did not mention any), and at the same time, add more buttons to the possibly cramped UI.
This is a game. I care less about fluff in a game if it does not help my character. (I may care a little, enough that I dislike stupid stuff like mostly empty mounts on some hulls, mainly carriers and some high-tech warships, being optimal.) The computer as an enemy will certainly not care if the player gimps himself for emotional reasons and will roll over him if allowed. If I roleplay, I would not use Free Port, but I use it for that all-important population growth and (eventually) drug exports to feed my miners (and I will not say no to more free money). Also, in the current release, the game punishes honesty in one of the two quests. Basically, if the game rewards playing evil or amoral characters, then I will play those characters instead of more heroic ones I gravitate toward. (In particular, my characters eventually turn into omnicidal maniacs who want to destroy all of the core worlds because they are annoying by being unable to defend themselves from pirates without my help, while at the same time they send big expedition fleets to harass my worlds.)
And there is nothing wrong with a money printer. Without income, your fleet bleeds money by default by paying salaries; and if later releases lets the player do more space lord things and less low-level runner or headhunter activities, then having more income to hire NPC fleets or do other high-level or kingly things would be nice.