The position I think we should be debating is the EASA/JAA vs FAA/ICAO one of the role of instructors vs examiners and the requirements for currency. I am qualified under both, although I have only a little ad-hoc instructing experience.
Indeed, and it is the blurring of the instructor and examiner roles that I find difficult to accept (though not as difficult as EASA's insistence that the examiner can not have given the student a single lesson). I salute you as an instructor 421C, as I've seen your teaching skills. I'd fear you as an examiner, but I suspect that's more about me than about you.
Provided needless bureaucracy is eliminated, I see no reason why the examiner system should not be cost effective. I pay mine about £60/hour, which given the differences in other aviation prices between the US and the UK doesn't seem unreasonable.