Economic Theory of Humanity: A Foundational Framework for Understanding Humanity's Past, Present and Future (Sustainxiety Institute Series on Economic Theory of Humanity)

What drives human history? Economic Theory of Humanity (ETH) proposes a simple but powerful answer: human behavior is shaped by four enduring forces—Hunger, Fear, Sustainxiety, and Alpha. In this book, David Rajan introduces a new framework for understanding how societies organize themselves and why civilizations evolve the way they do. ETH explains how these forces interact across four terrains of human coordination: Communal, Social, Market, and Data. Together, they form the underlying structure that shapes institutions, economies, and technological change. Drawing on insights from economics, philosophy, biology, and history, the book examines major transitions in human organization—from kinship-based communities to modern markets and the emerging AI-augmented Data Terrain. It explores why systems generate inequality, why technological transitions create friction, and why humanity uniquely experiences sustainxiety—the persistent anxiety of securing the future. More than a theory, ETH offers a diagnostic lens for interpreting the world: the dynamics of markets, the pressures of technological change, and the evolving relationship between humans and intelligent machines. For readers seeking a deeper understanding of the forces shaping the twenty-first century, Economic Theory of Humanity provides a new way to see the patterns behind human progress.