Depreciation Manipulation for Fun and Profit

BACK IN THE "good old days" (intentionally undefined) our forefathers were nowhere nearly as sophisticated as we are with respect to profit measurement and depreciation measurement. Some of them believed depreciation should be recorded; some believed it should not. There were many shades among the various opinions. The opinions differed not only between various times but also between various people. Some people said, "Depreciation should be taken when the property depreciates, but we keep our property up. Therefore, our property does not depreciate." Others found reasons to record depreciation when they could afford it; namely, when recording it would not reduce profits below a desired level. Of course, today we do not manipulate depreciation for profits.