Under the leadership of Our First M.B.A. President, the federal government shows it really understands money:

The FBI and the Department of Veterans Affairs are offering a $50,000 reward for the return of a laptop computer and external hard drive stolen from the Aspen Hill home of a VA employee on May 3.

The equipment contained personal information -- including names, Social Security numbers, home addresses, birthdates and disability ratings -- of 26.5 million veterans, including everyone discharged since 1975....

Let's see: The computer has information on 26.5 million veterans (and active-duty personnel). Over here, we have a report of people paying up to $60 per record for stolen personal data; over here, between $40 and $70.

Hmmm ... six times four, carry the two ... the way I figure it, those 26.5 million records could be worth between $1.06 billion and $1.855 billion.

Yeah, $50,000 will get that computer back -- no problem!