This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: the Podcast” is with John Burke, president of Trek Bicycle.
He discusses his latest book, “A Bold Plan for America: 14 Nonpartisan Solutions Based on the Facts,” which covers topics ranging from the national health care system to immigration, campaign finance, defense spending and more.
Burke, who has led the bicycle company since 1997, has previously published books on the life of his late father and Trek Bicycle founder Richard Burke, as well as two other books focused on American policy challenges and his vision of how to solve them.
“I’m a frustrated citizen, as many of us are, and I thought I could write a book on simple solutions to help save America,” he said.
The podcast highlights some of Burke’s top takeaways for members of Wisconsin’s business community, as well as the experiences he drew on while writing the latest book.
“We have as big a problem with our citizenship as we do with our leadership, and I think as citizens, and especially as business leaders, I think we can take a look at what kind of a difference can we make?” he said. “Instead of just saying, that’s somebody else’s problem, or the government is screwed up, or the political parties are the problem, what can we do?”
He argues “we need to be more demanding as citizens,” adding his views on some of the issues in the book have evolved somewhat over time.
“In the book, I propose a whole host of tax increases and an even bigger list of expense reductions, because there’s no way we can move to financial stability without both tax increases and spending cuts,” he said.
Burke, 62, also weighs in on his potential political aspirations.
“I really love running the bike company, it’s been my life’s work and we have an amazing team and we’ve got plenty of challenges and opportunities ahead of us, so that’s my main focus,” he said. “But you know, if we can’t get somebody who can come out and talk about the damn facts, along with some real solutions, then I might look at doing it at some time. But I’ll do it as a last resort.”
Listen to the podcast below, sponsored by UW-Madison:
