The Concept of Law in the Works of Nikolay Gogol

<p>The article for the first time raises a question about one of the profiles of Gogol&rsquo;s activity as a &ldquo;satirist&rdquo;, a denouncer of morals. In his writings the author inevitably follows the laws of the Russian Empire, more than a&nbsp;hundred of volumes of which were published during his lifetime. It is emphasized that Gogol's desire to devote himself to justice, dated back to his school days, he carried through all his whole life. He considered his writings, as well as the legacy of Homer, Derzhavin, Fonvizin and Griboedov, as educational, &ldquo;legislative&rdquo; for contemporaries. The writer created every his writing, by his own admission, as a&nbsp;support for the &ldquo;truthful laws&rdquo; of the State and Church, the unity of which was determined by the peculiarities of the legislation of the Orthodox State. The work consistently traces reminiscences of <em>The Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire</em> contained in the first Gogol&rsquo;s series <em>Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka</em>, the collection <em>Mirgorod</em>, St.&nbsp;Petersburg novels, <em>The Government Inspector</em>, <em>Dead Souls</em>, the comedy <em>The Gamblers</em>, etc. The government decrees were also mentioned in Gogol&rsquo;s works, for example, Anti-Superstition laws, alcohol laws, wine tax and beverage production laws, tax arrears laws, &ldquo;souls inspection&rdquo; decrees and &ldquo;documents audit&rdquo;, prohibitive decrees on bribes, moneylending, harlotry, gambling and so forth. The connection of the &ldquo;legislative&rdquo; problems with the laws of Gogol&rsquo;s poetics, their unity in the works of all genres and all periods of Gogol&rsquo;s creative activity is emphasized.</p>

One Markup to Rule Them All: Taxation by Liquor Pricing Regulation

Commodity taxation often involves uniform tax rates. We use alcohol laws that tax differentiated spirits with a comprehensive uniform markup to evaluate redistribution generated by such simple tax policy. We document preference heterogeneity among consumers, variation in product demand elasticities, and market power among producers with heterogeneous product portfolios. Relative to more flexible product-level markups recognizing demand heterogeneity and strategic price responses of firms, we find that the uniform markup underprices less elastic spirits, implicitly subsidizing low-income and less educated residents. The uniform markup grants additional market power to small specialized firms whose product positioning benefits from the policy.(JEL D12, H21, H23, H25, L43, L66)

Aplikasi Maqasid Syariah Terhadap Pentafsiran Ayat Hukum Arak Dalam Tafsir al-Azhar

This study aimed to identify of maqasid syariah and its importance in the interpretation of laws in the Quranic verses. This study also aimed to analyze maqasid syariah in the interpretation of alcohol laws in the Quran verses which were applied by Hamka in Tafsir al-Azhar. This study used texts and contents analyses. Inductive, deductive and comparative methods were also used to analyze the data. The main result of this study showed that the maqasid syariah was applied by mufassir in interpretation of the laws in the Quran verses. The study found that Hamka has applied the maqasid syariah in the interpretation of alcohol laws in the Quran verses in Tafsir al-Azhar. This study concludes that the application of maqasid syariah in the interpretation of law verses in the Quran should be emphasized by mufassir. The collection of law verses is important to facilitate Muslims to refer and practice them. The implication is that the study has created a maqasidi thematic interpretation methodology and it can be used as a method to interpret law verses in the Quran.

Mortality in Russia in light of the reduction in alcohol consumption

In the contemporary history of Russia, there have been three significant reductions in alcohol consumption associated with a decrease in mortality. The first, resulting from the anti-alcohol campaign of 1985, lasted 3 years, and the second, resulting from the impoverishment of the population and death of a large part of heavy drinkers, 4 years (1995-1998). In 2004 began the third decrease in consumption, often inexplicably linked with the anti-alcohol laws of 2005. However, the history of this decline goes back to the year 2000. It started with the creation of Rosspirtprom (RSP) and the anti-beer campaign, with Rosalkogolregulirovanie (RAR) taking over in 2009. The main activities of RSP and RAR involved the bankruptcy of several hundred enterprises of the alcohol industry. This and many other actions of the RSP and the RAR resulted in the instability, sometimes disruption, of the alcohol market. This could be a significant cause of the decrease in consumption and mortality in 2004. In fact, in 2000 the second anti-alcohol campaign started. The object of the first one had been the consumer, of the second - the alcohol market. The aim of the first campaign was to decrease consumption and improve the economy. The aim of the second was to fill the budget by suppressing the illegal market and moving consumers into the legal market. The methods of the first campaign consisted of a reduction of production and trade restrictions; the methods of the second one changed in the course of the campaign. The main goal was to squeeze small and medium-sized players out of the market, on the assumption that they were the principal suppliers of illegal products. The methods of the second campaign included the introduction of a Unified State Automated System, the growth of excise taxes and a minimum price for alcohol, as well as tough, sometimes criminal competition. The tool of the first campaign was administrative pressure. The main instruments of the second one were RSP and then RAR. As a result, there was neither an economic recovery in the first campaign, nor a filling of the budget thanks to alcohol in the second. The decrease in consumption and mortality in the first campaign was short-lived. The second campaign was in this regard more effective, due to the economic crisis and the growing budget deficit. Both campaigns led to increased consumption of illegal alcohol.

Brewing up entrepreneurship: government intervention in beer

Purpose While previous studies have looked at the negative consequences of beer drinking often as a prelude to discussing benefits of laws that curtail consumption, the purpose of this paper is to understand the downside of such regulations insofar as reducing entrepreneurial activity in the brewing industry. Design/methodology/approach Using a unique data set from the Brewers’ Association that contains information on the number and type of brewery in each county, this study explores the relationship between the number of breweries and regulations targeted at the brewing industry. Zero-inflated negative binomial regressions are used to determine the relationship between the number of microbreweries and brewpubs per county and state beer taxes, self-distribution legislation, and on-premises sales. Findings The authors find that allowing breweries to sell beers on-premises as well as allowing for breweries to self-distribute have statistically significant relationships with the number of microbreweries, brewpubs, and breweries. The authors do not find an economically significant relationship between state excise taxes and the number of breweries of any type. Originality/value Results suggest that whatever public health benefits are brought about by alcohol laws, they are not a free lunch, as they may hinder entrepreneurial development.

Incidence and causes of lower-limb amputations in the city of Ribeirão Preto from 1985 to 2008: evaluation of the medical records from 3,274 cases

ABSTRACT: Objective: It was to identify trends of traumatic and non-traumatic causes of lower limb amputations, as well as the role played by population aging, traffic violence increase, public health policy of diabetes control program and drivers anti-alcohol laws on these amputations. Method: Hospitalization data recorded in the discharge forms of 32 hospitals located in the region of Ribeirão Preto, Brazil, from 1985 to 2008 were analyzed. Result: A total of 3,274 lower-limb amputations were analyzed, of which 95.2% were related to non-traumatic causes, mainly infectious and ischemic complications of diabetes mellitus. Cancer (2.8%) and congenital (1.3%) causes were included in this group. Only 4.8% were related to traumatic causes. Traumatic amputation average rate was 1.5 amputations in 100,000 habitants with a slight tendency of increase in the last 5 years. Non-traumatic causes showed an average rate of 30.0 amputations for 100,000 habitants and remained relatively constant during the whole period. Non-traumatic were much more predominant in patients older than 60 years and traumatic amputations occurred more frequently in patients younger than 39 years. Conclusion: The overall rates of amputation and the rates of traumatic and non-traumatic amputations remained nearly constant during the study period. The impact of diabetes control policies and the introduction of traffic safety laws could not be identified on the amputation rates.

Effect of Changing Alcohol Laws in Iceland on Suicide Rates

After the legalization of strong beer in 1989 in Iceland, the decrease in consumption of spirits was accompanied by a decrease in the suicide rate.