Many elements of the system are Ponzi-like in that they depend on confidence-they would collapse if all investors demanded their stakes back-or they rely on new backers to keep them going.

这个系统中的许多要素都像庞式计划中的一样，它们依赖于投资者的信心，如果所有投资者都撤回他们的资金，这些要素就会崩溃，或者依靠新的投资者来使其继续运转。

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Back then, search engines were still a novelty and their backers fancied that a superior searching technology would be enough to build a business on.

ECONOMIST: Face value

Sulger's original backers, many of them former Goldman colleagues, made back at least five to eight times their investment, he says.

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