Powering reducing shouldn't cause a pilot to look for the 'RETARD' on a display, it should cause the pilot to look at what power he currently has and if it's acceptable for the position/energy state the aircraft is in.
Good point. Most jet drivers here would be able to tell you what N1 range they expect to see on finals for a given weight. I have been trained again and again to set the approx N1 and then regularly monitor it all the way down finals and think about how it relates to my current energy state.
That would be standard practice world wide would it not?