What utter claptrap to suit your monetary self interest!
I've come across very few other people on PPrune who not only personalise the debate but also make fallacious assertions about the motivation of other contributors to the discussion. If I don't agree with you, proudprivate, the only conceivable explanation is that I'm corrput and self-serving, right?
Instructors are of course also trained to assess competency. They are certainly capable of assessing competency. And they are required to assess competency, when they have to sign student pilots' off for written tests and checkrides. And they assess competency during the flight reviews.
Using an instructor for recurrent assessment as opposed to an examiner just saves a lot of money ($45 /hour vs $200 / hour).
So why does the system bother with examiners at all then? Why not just get the hour-building kid who just qualified to teach students to assess your competence to do something that you've been doing for the last 20 years, and take that privilege away from you on a whim?
Why do examiners cost more than instructors?
If you've logged instrument currency (where the approaches and holds during normal flight time can be verified - they are on ATC tape and on record at the airports) you shouldn't be re-tested at all, it's as simple as that. And it saves time and money for the pilot community.
Well why stop there? If I made it to the end of my PPL course alive, and did a few take-offs and arrivals (some of which might be described as landings), why both with a checkride? You shouldn't be tested at all, it's as simple as that. It saves time and money for the pilot community. Come to think of it, if I make it up the stairs to my AME's office without having a heart attack, why bother with the medical examination? You shouldn't be tested at all, it's as simple as that. It saves time and money for the pilot community.