I'd agree with what Lethn has said wholeheartedly, and throw a couple of thoughts in for good measure.
Whilst I'm very new to Bitcoin, I have done a reasonable amount of reading on economies in general, and how our current fiat currencies work (without wanting to give the impression I'm an economist or an expert - I'm far from that, but am aware of what's going on). I will also say at the outset that I take many things back to their very fundamental roots, or core, when considering things in general.
One thing to consider in the overall picture here is that, relatively speaking, Bitcoin is a very new currency - so much so that it hasn't yet 5 years of history. That alone is enough to cause a fair degree of uncertainty in many people's minds when asking them for a "value" for Bitcoins in any other, more "traditional" currency.
Being so new, at this time, I'd suggest that current price is more dictated on short term supply and demand - and as a result, it won't be very stable just yet.
I have read some comments from folks who seem "surprised" at the fact that BTC is around USD$16-$17 about now, and their surprise is the fact that the price is so high.
Here comes the "fundamentalist" in me. Consider a few very important facts about Bitcoin:
- It is the first currency (I believe, certainly that I have heard of) that is designed with absolute limits with respect to how much can be created
- The use of Bitcoin grows steadily, as more and more businesses begin to accept payments in Bitcoin (this is crucial for the survival of the currency), and on a positive note, there are no indications this will stop
- The day is fast approaching where the flow of new Bitcoins available by mining will become irrelevant in the big picture (next change of block reward to 12.5BTC in 4 years IMO)
- Especially at the time that "faucet" slows to a trickle, combined with continuing economic activity in Bitcoin, you will see much higher prices for BTC when compared to other currencies
The above, in my opinion, will have some people kicking themselves for not buying Bitcoin today - in some time to come, I am sure folks will look back to Bitcoin prices today, and think "Wow, they were very affordable back then". That's also the time when we will become much more familiar, and used to spending fractions of Bitcoins in a transaction rather than whole, or multiples, as we're used to today.
