As for soft cheese, I buy brie or/or camembert several times a year and, speaking from experience they last without spoiling for at least 48 hours. I think they taste better after a day or more at room temp, too.
I can't really say. The only soft cheese that I eat is certain bleu cheeses. On the whole, most soft cheeses that I know of are made from goat's milk, which I find unpalatable.
Not that I make a habit of always immediately refrigerating warm food, but how much energy waste are we talking about in dollars and cents?
Depends on your refrigerator and how much you're putting in there. I tend to make big pots intended to last many meals that week. So if you put ~4.5 quarts of boiling hot liquid (I tend to make a lot of stews, curries, etc) in your refrigerator every week or a few times a week, it'll definitely jack up your electric bill to some amount that's not necessary.
Straw man.
Food for sale is obviously a different category from home-cooked leftovers. So much so I expect it is illegal to offer cooked food for sale which has been at room temperature for anything close to 8 hours.
Why? Is bacteria less likely to colonize home-cooked food over professionally-cooked food? Or do you merely dispute that it matters, and professional cooks are just wasting their time?