the upgrading of gems is no longer a substantial gold sink. shit, more gold is removed from people unsocketing marquise. I agree with the gem dropping needing revamping -- for the exact same reason you say it's dumb to suggest 4hrs to cap NV, it's fucking absurd to need to find 7000+ of something just to get what you want. Look at me, I've played more regularly than most D3 players on BG, and I'm not even halfway to a single marquise ruby. They don't all need to drop, but to be able to find Star tier through some rare event/spawn or special task would be a phenomenal improvement. Now if they become so commonplace the AH price tanks, okay.. I can sort of see your argument, but they want to diminish the significance of the AH ultimately anyway.
otherwise, I agree with what's a crappy suggestion and what is pretty good