The numbers are mind boggling; the sense of panic is contagious. The global financial crisis has galvanised world leaders into finding unimaginable sums of money almost overnight to prevent banks collapsing, shore up failing systems and reassure nervous punters.
The arguments for urgent action to avoid systemic collapse are, of course, genuine and persuasive. But they reveal something extremely dark about the world's priorities: We can find the money to bail out banks but not to prevent the deaths of 30,000 children a day from poverty.
Mostly, these children die quietly, far removed from the scrutiny and conscience of the world.
The US bank bailout alone totalled $700 billion. That would clear the accumulated debts of the 49 poorest countries in the world twice over. It is about 44 times as much as the annual cost of getting every child into school. And more than it would cost to give basic healthcare to every man, woman and child on the planet for an entire decade.
Some argue that these bailouts are guarantees and loans rather than "real money" and that, therefore, comparisons with spending on poverty are meaningless. Unfortunately, there are plenty of other stark comparisons that do involve actual cash: Global military spending was a little over a trillion dollars in 2007.
The awful fact is, while current comparisons with spending on poverty are shocking, they are only going to get worse. Even in good times, many governments were reneging on aid promises; those now facing recession are more likely to follow suit. And other international processes may also be threatened - governments hunkered down against recession are less likely to have the political imagination and courage to reach the kind of agreements required on climate change - negotiations on a successor to the Kyoto protocol are scheduled to climax in Copenhagen late next year. East Africa is already suffering the onset of climate change in the shape of unpredictable and devastating combinations of floods and drought.
So here's a more heartening number: Last year on World Poverty Day, over 47 million people took part in a record-breaking mobilisation against poverty. This year, the Global Call to Action Against Poverty are aiming for on per cent of the world's population - 67 million people - to stand up and take action. Beating a world record is an inspiring experience but more important than the "standing up" is the "taking action".
Activist and journalist Jenerali Ulimwengu has dedicated his life to fighting for better governance in Tanzania. During Stand Up and Take Action this year, Mr Ulimwengu will spearhead demands for the government to make sure that poor people have access to clean portable water, improve access to healthcare.
In Madhya Pradesh, India, Yogesh Jain last year mobilised more than 200,000 people to protest at the districts' lack of healthcare, clean drinking water and resources for education. As a result of the massive mobilisation, government officials conducted surprise inspections that resulted in the allocation of funding for repairs and the allotment of government land for school construction. Mr Jain will be standing up and taking action again this year.
In the end, people created poverty and people will eradicate it. The movement against poverty is growing - embracing both rich country activists, who are ashamed to live in a world where governments consistently break their promises to tackle poverty, and people living in poor countries, who are demanding better governments with the determination to improve the lives of their most disadvantaged citizens.
With every government focused obsessively on the financial crisis, there has never been a more urgent time for ordinary people to stand up and demand that poverty stays at the top of the world's agenda.
A reminder of the most shocking number of all: 30,000 children die every day from poverty. If that isn't a crisis, it's hard to imagine what is.
The author is campaign manager at Oxfam and a board member of the Global Call to Action Against Poverty.