BRAC: Why Congress Doesn't Get It

The folks on Capitol Hill seem to think it a disaster when a military base closes in their congressional district. This is why why have independent reviews like the BRAC Commission. Yet they still fight it tooth-and-nail says Thomas Barnett:

Here's the painful rub on that one: time and time again when bases close, the local economy does better in the long run without them. Huge tracts of new land enter the market, both residential and commercial (to include industrial), and our private sector knows no bounds in its cleverness in generating new wealth from these opportunities previously held off-limits. Smart communities welcome base closures, knowing the short-term pain will be surpassed by the long-term gain.
So, sometimes the world's last centrally-planned economy, known as the Pentagon, gets it right (privatization of unneeded infrastructure).