Final answer:
The decrease in usefulness of fixed assets over time due to the consumption of natural resources is accounted for as depletion. Depletion is similar to depreciation but specific to natural resources. Planned obsolescence can affect the rate of depletion, but changes toward repairability and sustainability can alter how businesses deal with overhead and asset longevity.
Step-by-step explanation:
The decrease in usefulness of fixed assets over time is accounted for as a periodic expense called depreciation. Depreciation represents the allocation of the cost of a fixed asset over its useful life. However, when this question refers to the depletion of natural resources or assets like timber, oil, or minerals, the term used is depletion. Depletion is a similar concept to depreciation but is specifically applied to natural resources. This method reflects the exhaustion of the asset over time as it is consumed or sold.
Under the conditions of planned obsolescence, products are designed with a limited useful life so that consumers will need to replace them regularly, which could conceptually increase the rate of depletion for certain assets. However, if repair becomes cheaper than replacement, this could lead to a paradigm shift where goods are made to last longer, which could alter the rate at which assets are depleted. Considering this could change the nature of fixed costs, better known as overhead, and how businesses approach the longevity of their capital investments.