RE: I submitted my first hardfork pull request to the Steem blockchain! (Updates to the SBD print rate.)
By the time enough "extra" SBD has been printed to drive the price of SBD below $1, the debt load will already be in haircut territory.
If it takes that much SBD to bring the peg back to $1, I don't necessarily think it is wrong to print that much.
The SBD traders who are holding (and buying) SBD all the way up to that point are the ones who are taking the risk, and they are the ones that will get harmed if the peg drops below $1.
I think this change will add significant systemic risk.
I hear you, and I don't want to downplay the significance of the point you raise. There definitely is some risk with this. With the way the SBD economy has been working though, I don't personally consider it a systemic risk though.
If we pass the 10% haircut limit, let's say even to 20% - that is a risk for SBD holders. In this (hypothetical) scenario - SBD could drop down to $0.5 USD.
The question though is what would happen to it after that. While it is completely hypothetical/unknown, it is somewhat likely that traders would see it as a significant buying opportunity - possibly long before it reaches that point.
I think the important thing that we have learned is that the market is not really looking at the SBD->STEEM conversion rate at all (at least currently) with regards to the value that is placed in SBD. Speculation is playing a much more significant role.
In that case (1 SBD = 0.5 USD), should SBD holders not be able to convert to one USD equivalent of STEEM?
No. If we pass 10% debt level, then SBD conversions would pay out less than a dollar worth of STEEM. At a 20% debt level, it would pay out 50 cents on the dollar.