Investments, discretionary

Most manufacturers demand a higher rate of return on so-called "discretionary" investments (e.g., conservation) relative to main-stream investments (e.g., expansion of capacity), because investments critical to maintaining market share must be given high priority. 

Top management of the company assessed the plant manager s proposal on the basis of 2.6 cents per kWh paid for purchased electricity. This analysis resulted in a projected after-tax return on investment (ROI) of 22%, considerably less than the 30% expected from the discretionary investments that do not increase production. Although the company s typical ROI criterion was only about 15% and its average return on assets only 10%, top management rejected the proposal. 

Process Instrumentation and Control Systems. Investment for instmmentation and control systems and their installation typically range between 3 to 10% of the total installed cost for a grassroots continuous process faciUty. Instmmentation and control systems also represent a substantial percentage of the overall faciUty maintenance (qv) costs. Investment costs may be placed in one of two categories, ie, nondiscretionary and discretionary. 

Two-tier criteria for "discretionary" versus "mainstream" investments. 

See SCHWARCZ, supra note 6, at 62-63. In an attempt to increase the efficiency and liquidity of the private placement market, the SEC has issued Rule 144A. This rule permits the relatively free trading of privately placed seciuities to buyers (referred to as "qualified institutional buyers," or "QlBs") who have more than 100 million in the aggregate owned and invested in securities on a discretionary basis (or 10 million in securities with respect to dealers). See 17 C.F.R. 230.144A (1993). 

This same subject was revived in the winter and spring of 1783, and after a long consideration of the subject, and many schemes were proposed the result was, a recommendation of the revenue system of April 1783 this system does not suggest an idea that it was necessary to grant the United States unlimited authority in matters of revenue. A variety of amendments were proposed to this system, some of which are upon the journals of Congress, but it does not appear that any of them proposed to invest the general government with discretionary power to raise money. On the contrary, all of them limit them to certain definite objects, and fix the bounds over which they could not pass. This recommendation was... 

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