Dr. Anton Marcinčin specializes in regional development and is the founder of the initiative Regional Development Now! He graduated from the Czech Technical University in Prague and CERGE-EI Prague and defended his Ph.D. in economics at Charles University in Prague. He has received scholarships and fellowships at the Tinbergen Institute Amsterdam and LSE London. Marcinčin worked as a member of parliament, government plenipotentiary for underdeveloped regions and adviser to the Minister of Finance, Minister of Education and Minister of the Interior. He also worked as a country economist for the World Bank in Bratislava. Marcinčin published dozens of scientific articles, lectured at several universities and participated in many international research activities. Since 2007, he has been publishing regular columns in the Slovak Economic Daily and since 2015 also in Pravda.