The 9.5% inflation will be offset by increased user adoption to at least some extent (how much I don't know). Steemit's growth and the growth of speculators will increase the user base. An increased holder base is usually deflationary. Steem Power is deflationary in that it is not liquid so it's steem taken off the market essentially. I have 0 clue how much the inflation will be offset though.
What is your opinion on Proof of Stake vs Proof of Work? Do you need miners to process transactions in order for merchants to eventually adopt the currency? If it's Proof of Stake then do you need some sort of network (like Steemit, even if its not a social media platform). And everyone has to be in the network to transact? At that point it becomes about adoption i.e. an incentive to enter the network so that transactions can take place.
Great article, I will take a look at the whitepaper.
Not sure what you meant by that. Imo, POS is quite like virtual mining that would otherwise be done by POW so its in effect processing trasnactions as well, and both requiring networks? I think you might've mistaken the difference between them.
Edit: I might've misread instead, will return later to this (jsut woke up lol)