Bruce Dyer has had a lifelong and passionate interest in economics as the science of ensuring all round welfare. This was heightened by learning of P. R. Sarkar’s economic system (Progressive Utilization Theory) with its neo-humanist values that embrace the welfare of all living beings. Since then Bruce has been working to actualise the model in New Zealand.
He was a founding member of the Four Seasons Health Food Cooperative in Nelson circa 1983. In 1990, he travelled widely overseas on a Churchill Fellowship to research progressive approaches to the rehabilitation of offenders. On his return, he participated in establishing Nelson’s restorative justice service. He has organised national and international conferences including Beyond Capitalism (Wellington 1998), Reclaiming APEC (Auckland 1999), Globalisation or Localisation (Wellington 2001), the Social Forum Aotearoa (Porirua 2003) and Post Capitalist Aotearoa (Wellington April 2025).
In 1997 he was involved in establishing the Nelson Enterprise Loan Trust which he managed until it was wound up in 2022 with all investments repaid. The Trust made 300 loans amounting to almost $2.5m to small businesses in the Nelson region. In 2005, he co-founded the Vistara Prout Co-operative, a resource for Proutists on a three-hectare property in the Motueka Valley. In 2017, he completed an MPhil through the Auckland University of Technology. His thesis explored ‘the merits and scope for implementing self-reliant policies in the Nelson regional economy’.
With growing public awareness of the need for an economy that seeks to optimise the welfare of all, Bruce believes that this model’s time has arrived. As a founding member of the Progressive Party, he brings his optimism, determination and capacity to the political task of implementing a welfare-oriented society.
