Repurposed bases in Okinawa produce far more economic value than the bases did

Evidence

The experience in Okinawa further confirms much of the research. The closure of an Army base, for example, provided seaside land for the creation of an entertainment and shopping area, which now employs about three thousand people and attracts around a million visitors annually. A 2007 study found that the area’s impact on the local economy was about 215 times that of the base. Another study has shown that a shopping mall and office complex in the Okinawan capital, Naha, has sixteen times the economic benefit of the military housing formerly occupying the site. — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 930

Categorization

Category: Factual Claims

• XREF: Reinforces the economic case against bases held in Okinawa, central to the book’s argument.

Related

• Military bases provide weaker economic benefits than commonly assumed (similarity 0.92)
• Self-contained bases now leak few dollars into local economies (similarity 0.89)
• Commercial redevelopment of former base land vastly outperforms the base economically (similarity 0.88)
• Base closures have no significant or lasting regional economic impact (similarity 0.88)
• Bases bring fewer economic benefits than expected and can inhibit local growth. (similarity 0.85)
• Base land seizures destroyed Okinawa’s farming economy and livelihood. (similarity 0.85)
• Military occupation of land is a net economic loss for Okinawa (similarity 0.84)
• Base economies offer locals mostly low-wage jobs while higher-skilled positions go to Americans (similarity 0.84)
• Bases occupy valuable urban and beachfront land worldwide (similarity 0.83)
• US base-building destroyed Okinawa’s farmland economy and left its people in poverty. (similarity 0.81)
• US bases on Puerto Rico and Okinawa form colonial relationships that impoverish both islands. (similarity 0.81)
• Base closures show no measurable harm to surrounding community economies (similarity 0.80)
• Base closures rarely cause the catastrophic economic damage communities fear (similarity 0.79)
• Only some Okinawans oppose bases despite wanting Futenma closed. (similarity 0.78)
• Self-contained military bases leak little of their spending into local economies. (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Bases occupying land represent an economic loss rather than gain #corroborates (0.80) — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 931