Many thanks for responding to that...
That powering down thing is the one flaw that I personally see in the system. There doesn't appear to be an incentive to remain powered up at the moment. Game Theory that scenario out and everyone is racing to power down and sell off their Steem due to the opportunity costs and the fact that all the whales are doing it.
Looking forward to reading more! If you have an ear with @dan or @ned, please ask them about the lack of incentives to remaining powered up!
The incentive for me is to gain more VESTs while others are losing VESTs. Long term, it's the VEST count that really matters, both in terms of influence and economics. Those who already have more VESTs than they need should power down to spread that influence around. If the market can't sustain the price, then new opportunities will arise for people to get in at a low price.