Monetarism may well have provided some kind of ”heat-shield” which, for example, helped the Americans get inflation down in the Volcker deflation period of 1979-1983. Its empirical foundations, however, were not stable enough to allow it to be the continuing basis of policy.
But there were three lasting legacies of this period: ·  monetary policy was seen as a separate, specialised function, with a comparative advantage clearly distinguishable from fiscal policy;  ·  it required a nominal anchor;  ·  the framework should constrain the decision-making process (i.e. it was not just a technical or analytical construct).