While I've not carefully read STEEM inflation rates compared to adoption rates, I'm quite sceptical of STEEM reaching 1000 USD. I'm not saying it's not possible, but there are a few key points to consider:
1 Why don't I buy STEEM myself? Because I can basically get it for free by just writing posts. Now of course that's no easy task. Most posts get next to nothing in return, but at the same time, I believe people will be hesitant to buy something which can theoretically be obtained almost for free and which is constantly being produced.
2 While investors and optimistic users currently keep the prices up, the actual investor-independent value of STEEM is based on influence. Influencers can buy STEEM to get more exposure on their writing, advertising, news... This exposure will only be worth something if Steemit consists of both consumers and producers. I see a tendency these days that people just write, but don't read. They leave the upvoting to curation trails and bots. A million user content network is worth nothing if people don't consume its produced content. I find a lot of value in the Steemit community myself, but I'm not sure outside influencers will see it the same way. Unless you actively engage in the community, Steemit isn't really a very good place to go to just have a good read.
But then again there are other factors like Steem's superior performance, SMTs... which makes me optimistic. It will be exciting to see;)
The most people (especialy wealthy people) don't have the time and the patience to earn some Steems just because it's for Free. If they believe in the project as an investment opportunity and they see the benefits, than they will invest in it. And the people who like to earn some Steems for Free, they will leave Facebook and that kind of outdated Social Media and move to Steemit. And of course, nobody knows what will happen in the future, but I still think that Steem will be a huge Social Media platform, it's only a matter of time. Let's say, we hope! :)