I am against this idea as well. The 13 week period did not prevent Steem reaching 6$+ price during the last boom. Locking up your steem is the price you pay for having a strong vote in the forum.

If you want to trade and speculate in Steem then just don't power up, it's that simple. No trader is required to power up their steem.

I agree with @aggroed and @blocktrades comments as well.

I'd also be in favor of burning some steem to power down faster.

Full disclosure: I believe this change would hurt my bank. It would decrease the demand for my loans, and inhibit the usefulness of taking accounts as collateral. (I'd have to employ more strict terms which would make my loans less attractive.)

I would be willing to take a hit on my bank to improve the Steem ecosystem, but I don't believe this change would be an improvement.