Regulation and the Second Law of Thermodynamics
At first blush, one would not think that Barney Frank and Stephen Hawking would have anything in common. The first is the Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and is currently conducting hearings on the regulatory reform of the financial markets. The second is the noted University of Cambridge professor of theoretical physics and the author of the best selling book A Brief History of Time.
However, in my mind both men are associated with the Second Law of Thermodynamics. This law of physics states that the entropy of an isolated system always increases over time. Stephen Hawking described it in more comprehensible terms in A Brief History of Time:
It is a common experience that disorder will increase if things are left to themselves. . . . In any closed system disorder, or entropy, always increases with time.
Therefore, when I think of Hawking, I think of someone who can explain the Second Law of Thermodynamics. When I think of Barney Frank, I think of someone who is desperately trying to avoid its operation.
I would contend that all forms of market regulation follow the Second Law of Thermodynamics. In each case, a comprehensive statutory scheme is enacted as law, it imposes a closed system of rules on market actors, and over time the scheme inexorably breaks down. Federal securities regulation, which began with the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, provides the perfect case history of this principle in action.
Splitting the difference is a tried and true tactic for resolving disputes. I use this tactic all the time when I mediate conflict between my kids. I also used it with great success to settle cases in practice. But is splitting the difference an acceptable way for judges to resolve disputes? 
This past year I came across a terrific article by Professor Ruth Anne Robbins on using archetypes to develop a client’s story. (Harry Potter, Ruby Slippers and Merlin: Telling the Client’s Story Using the Characters and Paradigm of the Archetypal Hero’s Journey, 29 Seattle U. L. Rev. 767 (2006)). An archetype is an innate prototype, or epitome, of a personality. The Swiss psychologist Carl Jung advanced the theory that some personality types or characteristics are universally recognized. The American mythologist Joseph Campbell was influenced by Carl Jung’s work on archetypes and considered how archetypes manifest in mythology. Professor Robbins examines how Jung’s and Campbell’s theories can be used in a practical litigation and courtroom setting.