I think it was generally understood by all the devs how DPOS functioned economically, at least to some extent. It was certainly examined for attack points, and we were well aware of the potential for attack by an exchange with a lot of stake, for example. It was considered an acceptable risk at the time, but time has shown that to not be true, I think.

But for a full analysis of the socio-economics of DPOS, I need a full post, like the one I'm promising eventually. A lot of people do get the wrong ideas about it, and I don't consider it as bad as you're implying, because there are economic limits on abuse that may not be obvious at first glance. But again, it's a longer discussion for another time.