‘You’re saying years?’ MS NOW host visibly shook by analyst’s dire economic prediction

Economic analyst Henrietta Treyz left MS NOW’s Alex Witt stunned on Saturday after issuing a dire prediction about the American economy, particularly as it relates to the ongoing surge in energy costs.

Witt queued up a clip of President Donald Trump claiming that gas prices – which recently reached a four-year high of $4.30 per gallon – would soon fall as his war against Iran ends, and despite peace talks between Washington and Tehran having reached a stalemate. She then asked Treyz, were the war to “end tomorrow,” how soon Americans could expect prices at the pump to fall.

“At the earliest, you're not getting regular flow through the Strait of Hormuz until September, so my calculation is that, on the trajectory we're at right now, we should be expecting $4.90 gas by the end of next week,” Treyz said. “We are on track to get to $5 or even above by Memorial Day.”

Treyz went on to warn that even in a best-case scenario where the United States and Iran manage to negotiate an end to the conflict and fully re-open the Strait of Hormuz – a critical shipping waterway through which 20% of the world’s oil trade flows – the impact of the war would almost certainly be felt by Americans and their pocketbooks far beyond September.

“Even if you take out the 300% increase in insurance costs [for oil tankers] and you clear the backlog of ships, you have to deal with the reality that 80 of the largest refiners and energy producers on the earth have been bombed, including the world's largest [liquefied natural gas] facility,” Treyz said.

“So it's going to be not just that long to get the strait cleared, but years until those facilities are back up and running and we're near anything with a $2 in front of it for gas.”

Visibly taken aback, Witt asked Treyz to clarify her statement.

“So you're saying how long until we get something with a $2 in front of it per gallon of gas? You're saying years?” Witt asked.

“I'm saying years,” Treyz responded. “It's gonna be years.”

“Wow,” Witt uttered after an extended pause.