Mervyn tells it like it isn't

Mervyn King just gave a press conference on the monthly Inflation Report.
He are the highlights and what he really meant for those who don't speak gobbledeegook.

On whether he considered resigning in wake of Northern Rock Crisis:
He said:
"No."

Which means: "No, it wasn't up to me. On balance they'd rather I resign when things are really bad."

On equity markets
He said:
"It's very striking that despite developments we've seen in the last three months, equity prices are on average higher now than they were in August. This is true around the world and in emerging markets they're 20 percent higher: There must be some downside risks there. That's factored into our projections. That's the bigger risk to the global economy."
Which means: "The traders are crazy. If you haven't sold your shares, do so before it all goes tits up."

On his own reappointment as Governor:
He said:
"This can wait until the new year and I think it should."

Which means: "They've given me a year to find something low profile."

On staglation:
He said:
"It's not a word I intend to use."
Which means: "I hope to be out of here by then."

On the economic outlook:
He said:
"There will be an adjustment of saving rates in which tighter credit conditions will lead households to raise saving ratios; growth both in consumer spending and output can return to more normal levels, not go back to the heady highs of the 2000s but something closer to the longer run rate of GDP."
Which means: "This is going to be nasty."

On the impact of the credit crunch on the economy;
He said:

"We wanted to see how this really was going to feed through into activity. We expected a slowing but is the slowing we are going to see bigger than we had wanted to see?"

Which means: "I can't atually say it's going to push us into recession, so best to simply raise a question."

On outlook, data
He said:
"Trying to describe the outlook in terms of adjectives is less helpful than in terms of numbers. It's a matter of data, not a matter of time."
Which means: "I'd like to use words like: "buggered", "up shit creek", and "meltdown", but I can't so, so I'll take refuge in meaningless drivel instead."