Despite the flood of visitors for the inauguration last week, the Smithsonian would need that to be a regular weekly event if they wanted to keep at the same financial pace they’d previously enjoyed in years past. Instead, the Institution’s newly placed secretary, G. Wayne Clough, has put in place a hiring freeze and put an end to raises and bonuses in certain sectors of the organization, as well as asking a number of departments to cut their budgets for 2009. For the time being, this only applies to the more administrative roles and won’t be affecting any of the museums, but with the Smithsonian’s endowments far lower than they been, like with nearly every cultural enterprise, a tightened belt is likely to be felt throughout.