This concluding chapter explores the implications of this book's study in three areas: the role of ideas in monetary policy; the role of policy networks in determining ideational coherence and salience; and the process of ideational change. Given that policy ideas do matter, and indeed are central to the politics of monetary policy, scholars need to understand the policy ideas that embody specific goals, priorities, and judgments about monetary policy as well as the conduits through which these ideas ultimately reach policymakers. One analytical value of drawing on policy networks is that it provides a framework for understanding the specific hierarchy of ideational processes that shape outcomes. Meanwhile, ideational change occurred through a breakdown in the ability of existing policy ideas to describe reality, thereby inviting wider political intervention beyond state actors.
