Oh, sure, we humans have our moments. The ability to reason distinguishes us from squirrel monkeys.
Reason has little to do with it.
A great wave of hope has been replaced by a great wave of fear. And suddenly the world's policy makers, with Alan Greenspan in the lead, are called upon to be not economists, but therapists for an anxious global economy. It's not surprising that Russia triggered this change. As a matter of rational economics, Russia's financial collapse in August was a minor event. But Russia has been the locus of many waves of hope and fear that have washed across the world in the 20th century.