ABSTRACT
In the United States, an organisation proclaiming the study of economic problems as part of its mission pre-dated the emergence of a body of economists with a defined identity. The creation of the American Social Science Association (ASSA) in 1865 was the case in point. This Boston-based organisation was inspired in the post-Civil War flush of enthusiasm for social reforms.1 Its organisers charted an ambitious programme. As they set out the Association’s overall purpose in the Constitution:
Its objects are, to aid the development of Social Science, and to guide the public mind to the best practical means of promoting the Amendment of Laws, the Advancement of Education, the Prevention or Repres-sion of Crime, the Reformation of Criminals, and the Progress of Public
Morality, the Adoption of Sanitary Regulations, and the diffusion of sound principles on questions of Economy, Trade, and Finance.2
