Is it still the case in the USA that you get landing clearance well in advance? 20 years ago I was in JFK, Chicago, Orlando, Boston etc. It was common to come onto long finals No.5 and be given clearance to land. You were all flying instructed speeds for spacing. ATC was putting the decision onto the pilot. i.e. if the captain considers it safe to make a visual landing on the runway starring him in the face then it was his decision. From an ATC point of view there is no reason not to expect a landing. If you decide to GA, then you GA.
It was a very strange moment, coming from Europe, when it first happened to me. Later, I found one benefit of it when ATC tower was talking incessantly. You could not get a call in. because I already had 'clearance to land' as No.4 I just continued and landed on a clear runway. The spacing was such that the preceding a/c had vacated. I can see where single runway Ops could make this technique less than ideal, but giving the decision to the pilot has some merits in some circumstances.
I think there have some occurrences where ATC have called unnecessary GA's due traffic. I think that is where the incoming pilot has a strong overview of the situation, especially where the GA is an overlay of the SID. I do appreciate that some ATC's have local boundaries and may not have discretion. But then why?