"I would rather have a drink with someone than listen to their grand theory of history, no matter how smart they are." 
 
This is kind of surprising after seeing you pimp Turchin, Clark etc. Is your skepticism more recent than your interest in them?

1997-2000 were boom years, but that's when the movement was building up steam. It died during the jobless recovery to the recession. I propose an alternative anti-globalization killer - 9/11. 
 
It's easy to forget now just how much people rallied around Bush and the neocons in that era. Here's a reminder: http://www.hist.umn.edu/~ruggles/Approval.htm 
 
Even for the implacable minority that opposed him (not all of whom were the kind of white boys with dreadlocks who protested globalization), things felt pretty hopeless at that time, which would have undermined morale.

It would be a first step towards identifying the genes and biochemical pathways responsible for intelligence and the development of therapies for people lacking intelligence. 
 
Populations will never be equal socioeconomically if their abilities aren't equal. It's ironic that the kind of people who tend to be concerned by inequality also tend to be the ones who would like people to stop thinking lines of thought that could lead to actual solutions.

I hope that Professor Blattman is more open-minded than DeLong, whose response to your suggestions would be something like putting his hands over his ears and shouting "NAH NANNY BOO BOO, I'M NOT LISTENINGGGGGG!" 
 
http://isteve.blogspot.com/2005/09/brad-delong-purifier-of-comments.html 
 
Blattman specifically asked for suggestions of the non-conservative variety, so I'll bet he isn't. 
 
These guys are going to solve Africa's problems any day now by burying their heads in the sand.