Max Harden

Maxwell Harden is a space policy researcher specializing in state-level space policy and space environmentalism. He’s interested in how state and local governments can support dynamic labor and capital markets in the space industry. He recently graduated from Florida State University with a bachelor’s degree in economics and philosophy. His undergraduate thesis examined state aerospace labor markets across major hubs, showing how local institutions contribute to employment growth.  

Prior to his current role, Harden worked on Mercatus’s Labor Policy Project under Liya Palagashvili and as a space philosophy intern under Rebecca Lowe. He has also worked as a research assistant at Florida State’s Devoe Moore Institute and the Institute for Governance and Civics, where he focused on Florida’s labor markets and on aerospace policy.