It seems obvious that the SSCI plays a significant role--be it  
positive or negative--in the US and European countries. Please allow  
me to add that it plays a very, very important role in Korea as well.  
Although the activity of Korean historians of economics is far from  
noticeable in the international scene, there exists a (small)  
community of historians of economics in Korea, whose members are,  
insofar as I know, currently striving for the preservation of the  
history of economics in the Korean academia. I've been in contact with  
one of the core players of the history of economics in Korea, and he  
has repeatedly stressed that Korean historians of economics should be  
able to publish their papers in the SSCI-listed journals in order to  
make a case to other economists, at the very least, for the  
preservation of the history of economics as a sub-field of economics,  
because the SSCI is so firmly established in Korea as "the" standard  
measure of the productivity and significance of sub-fields of  
economics.  
  
I strongly believe that the issue of having HOPE re-listed in the SSCI  
is so important for historians of economics in (virtually) every  
country that the initial effort made by the HES officers should be  
applauded. Also, I'd like to suggest that HES should maintain its  
active role in this effort, and that ESHET and JSHET should also be  
involved in this endeavor (and in the future effort to have JHET and  
EJHET listed in the SSCI as well).  
  
Let me add another remark: I simply don't understand why HOPE should  
be dropped out of the SSCI while Journal of the History of the  
Behavioral Sciences and History of the Human Sciences are still there in the SSCI.  
  
Kyu Sang Lee