When it comes to ARPA, don’t Wink

In economic development circles, mention of Wink, Texas, can prompt knowing looks. In 1961, Wink, population then 1,863, was on the downhill side of a boom-and-bust oil economy. According to news reports at the time, it applied for $336,000 in federal urban renewal funds to clean up its blighted downtown. The Urban Renewal Administration responded by granting Wink $891,868, plus another $1,034,758 in tempo­rary loan authority. That’s about $17 million in today’s money.

Not surprisingly, folks in Wink were ecstatic. The town used the federal surfeit to buy up lots for far more than they were worth, and to build new roads, sidewalks, and sewers to accommodate what it imagined would be a flood of new stores, office buildings, and homes.

You can guess what came next: Nothing.