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There are two ways to read this book about American trade associations (TAs). The first way—as an overview of a neglected but important part of the U.S. economy—may be summarized as follows. In chapters 2 and 3 of Solidarity in Strategy, Lyn Spillman provides a useful synthesis of existing historical and sociological research on American TAs as well as a “census” (i.e., a compilation of self-descriptions, organizational features, and key activities of all contemporary U.S. trade associations) conducted by Spillman and colleagues. These chapters make several good points: (a) that TAs have long been very important in the United States. even if they have no formal role in governing the economy, as they do in Western Europe; (b) that TAs are not merely about lobbying the government or (in Adam Smith’s famous words) “conspiracies against the public” by “members of the same trade”; (c) that TAs are “multifunctional,” offering educational services and peer-to-peer learning, networking opportunities, and coordination on club goods such as industry standards, certification programs, and marketing campaigns; and (d) that contra Berk and Schneiberg, the development of this broad array of functions likely was not an accommodation to antitrust enforcement but emerged as TAs did, with the industrial revolution.

In my health policy course, the subtitle of the long-term care (LTC) unit is, “The Biggest Health Policy Problem You’ve Never Heard Of.” The aged population is growing (the high-need 85 years or older group most rapidly), yet families are smaller and geographically dispersed. The majority of women, the usual caregivers, are in the paid labor force. Yet public policy is wholly inadequate and unresponsive to growing need: Medicare doesn’t cover LTC; Medicaid covers it only for the truly impoverished; there is no paid leave for caregivers or tax credits to offset costs; and the availability of state-provided home care, respite care, and adult day care is widely variable and meager. Nor is the private sector much help: with its high cost and limited benefits, private LTC insurance is practically useless. Despite these glaring inadequacies, however, the political silence on care issues is near absolute.