Where do we stand on econophysics?

This issue contains papers selected from the contributions presented at the 5th International Conference on “Applications of Physics in Financial Analysis” (APFA5) held in Torino from June 29th to July 1st, 2006 (http://www.polito.it/apfa5). The issue collects recent applications of models and methods of statistical physics to economic problems. This interdisciplinary field of research, known as Econophysics, has seen intensive growth over the last decade. The challenge for econophysicists will be to go beyond the traditional views of economics and physics unifying the separate lines of development followed by the two disciplines over great part of the 20th century.“The conventional view serves to protect us from the painful job of thinking”, John Kenneth Galbraith (1908–2006).