I think that it's important to be able to play any shot with inside, outside, top, bottom, and/or center in order to play position, and the same applies to thin cuts, but my "go to" cut shot if I can forget about position is a little above center. I think that the accuracy is more important than any gearing effects, so I don't think any of the benefits of inside or outside are worth dealing with squirt and swerve if I don't need position.One advantage of outside english is that it results in less throw toward the rail (actually, absolutely no throw if "gearing" outside english is used), or it results in throw away from the rail (if more than a "gearing" amount is used). In either case, the OB will be less likely to hit the cushion first, resulting in a "bigger" pocket (except on tables like Valley/Dynamo bar boxes where the pocket is actually "bigger" hitting cushion first at slow to medium speeds).
Also, if running spin is transferred to the OB (by greater-than-"gearing" outside), that would tend to lengthen the rebound off the cushion (but this is a very small effect at shallow angles to the rail).
Some people suggest that inside english is the true "helping" english because it imparts spin to the OB in the direction that helps it enter the pocket (off the far pocket wall).
Bob did some experiments related to "helping english" that he reported in BD not too long ago. The article isn't online yet so I can't link to it, but maybe Bob can elaborate. My recollection was that there was a measurable amount of "help," but it isn't really an important effect practically speaking (... but I could be wrong). Bob?
That is definitely a strong effect (whether there is sidespin on the OB or not), hence the value of "pocket speed." The pocket is much "bigger" if the OB enters rolling (with topspin).
I think that your point about the object ball rolling into the pocket is a good one. My preferred style of play for rotation games is to play a lot of inside, stun, and draw shots from the middle of the table, so there's not a lot of rolling involved, but I do try to roll in balls that I cut down the rail to make the pocket play a little bigger.