Rising refusals as construction economy falls

Recently there appears to have been a sharp tightening of planning permissions; this appears to have occurred at almost the precise time we began hearing of the slow down in the construction sector - whether there is a statistical correlation with the economy I don't know - what I do know is that suddenly a raft of refusals have been issued. Are we planners influenced by economic stories and by the media? While we have created a planning apparatus which provides for a fair assessment of all planning applications, it suddenly appears as though what was acceptable a year or more ago, is no longer. Anyone else notice this?