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The Romney campaign says stimulus doesn't work. Here are the studies they left out. (WaPo)

Mitt Romney's economic advisers claim that Barack Obama's stimulus policies have failed and hurt the economy, and after a thorough review of the literature, Dylan Matthews finds the evidence is on their side as long as you ignore pretty much all of it.

Romney and his fictional Obama (WaPo)

E.J. Dionne writes that instead of taking on the real president and his record on health care and welfare, Romney has created a stand-in using edited soundbytes and some stuff he just made up. Now he just has to hope he can beat his own practice dummy.

The Real Problem With Welfare: It Stopped Helping the Poor (The Atlantic)

Jordan Weissman notes that instead of worrying that some states will be granted waivers to tinker with welfare, we should be concerned that what was once a safety net for struggling families has become an electrified fence built to keep them away.

August Isn't So Stupid This Year (Slate)

Dave Weigel argues that while talk of welfare waivers and Romney's tax returns may be tiresome, on some level we're debating real policy issues rather than such pressing summer 2008 questions as whether Obama was more popular than Paris Hilton.

The Olympic-Sized Cost of Putting Kids Through Sports (Forbes)

NND Editor Bryce Covert writes that the financial struggles of some of America's Olympic champions show that with many families finding it harder to afford the basics, it's tough to fit swimming leotards or pommel horse lessons into a household budget.

How to Regulate High-Frequency Trading: Tiny Tax Would Make a Big Difference (NYT)

Dean Baker notes that in the panic over Knight Capital's rogue trading program, few have asked whether we'd even want it working properly. He suggests a speculation tax to slow things down and maybe help us puny flesh creatures make some money.

U.S. Needs to Be Much More Forgiving on Home Loans (Bloomberg)

Clive Crook argues that the housing market is where the Great Recession started and it's where we could finally end it, but only if officials like Ed DeMarco realize that tossing underwater homeowners a life line is better than letting them drown on principle.

With Rates Low, Banks Increase Mortgage Profit (NYT)

Peter Eavis writes that banks could be offering borrowers an even better deal than the one they're currently getting if they would settle for the profit margins of a few years ago, but it takes a lot of money coming in the door to feed a growing financial behemoth.

Making Bad Jobs Better: Lessons from Retail (Demos)

David Callahan highlights research that show retail employees who are treated well by their employers are likely to stick around and provide a better customer experience than the ones who feel like they're grinding their souls away until they can find better work.

How Secret Foreign Money Could Infiltrate US Elections (MoJo)

Shady millionaires and billionaires may be buying our elections, but at least they're our shady millionaires and billionaires, right? Well... As Andy Kroll notes, if they're donating their money through political nonprofits, that's not necessarily the case.