Max B. Sawicky

Loudoun & Virginia Politics

Max B. Sawicky is a retired economist for the Federal government, specializing in state and local finance. He earned a doctorate in economics at the University of Maryland/College Park, and a B.A. in English Literature at Rutgers University. He has taught at the University of Maryland. He has previously worked at the Economic Policy Institute, the U.S. Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and the U.S. Government Accountability Office. He is married and lives in Lovettsville, Virginia. He has published three books, numerous papers, and numerous op-eds. His online writing can be found here.

Sawicky was born in 1949 and grew up in New Jersey. He lived in Maryland from 1980 to 2017. Since then he has lived in Lovettsville, Virginia.

Selected substack essays

Against Geary Higgins and the Glory of Old Virginny

It looks like I have an opponent for the Virginia House of Delegates, District 30. His name is Geary Higgins, and he has been in Loudoun County forever. It’s funny, when I first began checking out local politics and his name came up, I thought “Who is this old coot?” Turns out, I am older than he is.

Our Split-Level Neofascism

In keeping with my obsessions on this substack, I need to point out that the antics of Trump’s MAGA caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives can distract from what I see as the other key dimension of political struggle in the U.S. — state and local government.

How Glenn Youngkin was elected governor

Everybody has heard the bit about a butterfly flapping its wings in China changing world history, somehow. That is roughly how Glenn Youngkin, a private equity financial operator who sends his kids to school in Maryland, got himself elected governor of Virginia in 2021.

Ladies This Won’t Hurt a Bit

Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, failed account manager, wants to ban abortions for pregnancies that continue beyond fifteen weeks. His minions in the Virginia state legislature have introduced bills to this effect. Youngkin did not want to broadcast his “pro-life” commitments while running for office. Now that he is limited to one term as governor, the dogs have been let out.