We then slow-motored down a series of ever narrower, branch-littered paths, between groves of lush green trees and rice paddies.

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At a time when initial public offerings and other investment-banking business is scarce, Wall Street is all too happy to assist in rolling out a steady stream of ever narrower ETFs, notes Reilly, who formerly headed up equity compliance for Goldman Sachs.

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And on and on it goes, into ever-narrower and illiquid asset classes.

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But as the world becomes narrower, more fragmented, appealing to an ever increasing amount of niches, the rich network of connections from one field to the next gets lost.

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Narrower profit margins and less support from local governments will make it ever harder for companies to invest in developing new products.

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