What we did not anticipate was an arbitrary decision to constrain consumer choice.

WSJ: Seth Goldman: Mayor Bloomberg and Our 16.9-Ounce Tea

The coroner says one challenge has been fixing a time of death for Katrina's victims, so he says he's made an arbitrary decision.

NPR: New Orleans Begins Probe into Katrina Deaths

We ranked the list's vehicles based on what it costs to fuel them per year, according to the EPA. We measured cars by fueling cost because the EPA lists two gas-mileage figures per car, city and highway mileage, and we did not want to make an arbitrary decision about which mileage figure is more important.

FORBES: Magazine Article

But if you had told me to just to cut back, the cutback would have been an arbitrary number, rather than an informed decision.

FORBES: Four Simple Steps To More Conscious Spending

To put up an arbitrary barrier and keep it out of the hands of someone who might evangelize that work is a bad business decision for the author.

NEWYORKER: Publish or Perish