Sign in

Anthony DeBarros

@anthonydb.bsky.social
1.3K followers 351 following 90 posts

Data journalist at The Wall Street Journal and author of the book "Practical SQL" from No Starch Press. nostarch.com/practical-sql-2nd-edit…

PostsRepliesMedia
Anthony DeBarros @anthonydb.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
My @wsj.com colleagues put AI-related spending in context with America's earlier large infrastructure buildouts. It's massive. (Gift link.) www.wsj.com/economy/the-...
wsj.com
The AI Build-Out Is Becoming the Biggest Economic Bet in U.S. History
Data-center spending is greater than that for canals, railroads and grid combined—creating jobs and stock-market wealth, while boosting inflation and crowding out housing.
13216
Anthony DeBarros @anthonydb.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Chart of the day via @wsj.com in www.wsj.com/economy/cons...
030
Reposted by Anthony DeBarros
Nick Timiraos @nicktimiraos.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
My colleagues @anthonydb.bsky.social and Peter Santilli broke Warsh's forecasts down into this data visualization. Relative to his colleagues, they show a policymaker who grew steadily less optimistic about the economy's productive capacity in the years after the financial crisis.
1151
Anthony DeBarros @anthonydb.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Charts! The quarterly @wsj.com economic forecasting survey for April in detail -- plus a report card on how our panel of economists fared in 2025. With my colleague Peter Santilli. www.wsj.com/economy/cent...
wsj.com
The Cost of War: How Economists Predict the Economy Will Fare
Economists’ forecasts from a WSJ survey on the outlook for growth, inflation, oil prices and recession risks following the Iran war.
031
Anthony DeBarros @anthonydb.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
Recent months have been marked by slower growth, stubborn inflation and a weaker job market. Economists worry the war in Iran could exacerbate all three. www.wsj.com/economy/infl...
wsj.com
We Asked a Panel of Economists to Forecast the War’s Impact
Few think the conflict will derail a resilient economy, but inflation, growth and jobs are all expected to take a hit.
032
Anthony DeBarros @anthonydb.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
U.S. birthrates continued to hit new lows in 2025 as the number of children born hovered around roughly 3.6 million for the sixth straight year. My latest with colleagues Paul Overberg and Andrea Petersen. www.wsj.com/us-news/why-...
wsj.com
Why the U.S. Fertility Rate Has Hit a Record Low
As childbearing shifts toward women 30 and older, the U.S. is moving further below the level needed to keep growing.
140
Anthony DeBarros @anthonydb.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
The Epic 50-Year Story of Apple, Told Through the WSJ Archive www.wsj.com/tech/the-hea...
wsj.com
The Epic 50-Year Story of Apple, Told Through the WSJ Archive
See the headlines from decades of coverage that chronicle the evolution of an American icon
030
Anthony DeBarros @anthonydb.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
In our latest economic survey for @wsj.com, the average recession probability has ticked up to 32% but the consensus is that the economy is resilient enough to weather the oil supply disruption—provided crude doesn't rise above above $138/barrel for a sustained period. www.wsj.com/economy/econ...
wsj.com
Economists Don’t See a Recession Unless Oil Hits $138—and Stays There for Weeks
In a survey, the average of economists projects the Middle East conflict boosting inflation but probably not hurting growth.
021
Anthony DeBarros @anthonydb.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
pgAdmin team working on adding AI capabilities to its popular PostgreSQL query and management tool (i.e., things you learn by watching GitHub repos). github.com/pgadmin-org/...
github.com
Core LLM integration infrastructure to allow pgAdmin to connect to AI… · pgadmin-org/pgadmin4@f2756a3
… providers. #9641 * Core infrastructure for LLM integration. * Add support for a number of different AI generated reports on security, performance, and schema design on servers, databases, and sc...
000
Anthony DeBarros @anthonydb.bsky.social · 29/11/2025
Latest from me: How President Trump aimed tariff exclusions at food—and which items remain under levies. In charts: www.wsj.com/economy/trad...
wsj.com
How Trump Administration Aimed Tariff Exemptions at Rising Food Costs
Charts show how the president has eased his levies—but some key ingredients might still weigh on consumers.
010
Anthony DeBarros @anthonydb.bsky.social · 13/10/2025
Stronger growth but a weaker jobs picture: Economists surveyed by @wsj.com see a bifurcated picture of the nation's economic prospects. Latest quarterly survey, with @HarrietTorry www.wsj.com/economy/cent...
wsj.com
Stronger Growth, Weaker Hiring: Forecasters See a Split-Screen Economy
In the latest Wall Street Journal survey, forecasters also predict that the Federal Reserve will become less independent.
052
Anthony DeBarros @anthonydb.bsky.social · 09/10/2025
Tariffs brought in record revenue in fiscal year 2025 for the U.S. government. But how much did that change the overall picture? Five takeaways from @richardrubindc.bsky.social and me today on what has changed about the federal budget—and what hasn’t. www.wsj.com/economy/tari...
wsj.com
Tariffs Are Way Up. Interest on Debt Tops $1 Trillion. And DOGE Didn’t Do Much.
The books have closed on the U.S. government’s fiscal 2025. Here’s what has changed about the federal budget—and what hasn’t.
011
Reposted by Anthony DeBarros
Kathleen Bush-Joseph @kathleenbush.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
Highly recommend this deportations data breakdown from @anthonydb.bsky.social @wsj.com J Importantly, it highlights *missing data* DHS' statistics office hasn't released broken down info since January, meaning we don't have the complete picture of who is being deported, by which agency & where
wsj.com
How Trump’s Deportation Effort Is Playing Out, in Charts
ICE is moving to step up arrests, detentions and deportations. We crunched the numbers.
258
Anthony DeBarros @anthonydb.bsky.social · 02/10/2025
Wow, JetBrains is making DataGrip available for free for non-commercial use. Great news for students and open-source projects. blog.jetbrains.com/datagrip/202...
blog.jetbrains.com
DataGrip Is Now Free for Non-Commercial Use | The DataGrip Blog
We’re excited to announce a change in our licensing model that we believe will benefit the developer community – DataGrip is now free for non-commercial use!
031
Anthony DeBarros @anthonydb.bsky.social · 18/08/2025
Postgres.app — my favorite way to run PostgreSQL on macOS — is making it easier to add extensions to your environment. Really handy. postgresapp.com/extensions/
010
Anthony DeBarros @anthonydb.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
Take a spin in the time machine, back to an era when the federal budget deficit didn’t look like a problem at all. Today, my colleagues @richardrubindc.bsky.social, Rosie Ettenheim and I break down how to the U.S. arrived at record deficits. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
wsj.com
The Path to Record Deficits
A generation ago, the federal budget was briefly in surplus. Now, it appears headed for a record stretch of peacetime deficits. What happened?
010
Anthony DeBarros @anthonydb.bsky.social · 15/06/2025
@natschatpodcast.bsky.social What a sad series against the Marlins. 1) The Nats are now just 1 game ahead of the Marlins for the NL East cellar. 2) 0-9 with RISP in today's game! 3) At least Cole Henry looks like a future closer with those two K's and 2.22 ERA.
010
Anthony DeBarros @anthonydb.bsky.social · 05/06/2025
Some economists are beginning to question the accuracy of recent U.S. inflation data after the federal government said BLS staffing shortages hampered its ability to conduct the massive monthly survey. www.wsj.com/economy/cpi-...
wsj.com
Exclusive | Economists Raise Questions About Quality of U.S. Inflation Data
The Labor Department says staffing shortages reduced its ability to conduct its massive monthly survey, forcing it to turn to less precise guesses.
064
Anthony DeBarros @anthonydb.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
Newest versions of pgAdmin now let us customize the font in the Query Tool. Nice upgrade. Set here to MesloLGL Nerd Font:
Image of the pgAdmin Query Tool showing the custom font.
010
Anthony DeBarros @anthonydb.bsky.social · 23/04/2025
U.S. total fertility rate in 2024 only slightly above 2023's low. www.wsj.com/us-news/u-s-...
011
Anthony DeBarros @anthonydb.bsky.social · 20/04/2025
@markzuckerman.bsky.social Did the Nats all change uniform numbers recently? If so, what’s the story there?
100
Anthony DeBarros @anthonydb.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
Economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal expect slower growth this year and a higher chance of recession. Today, my colleague Peter Santilli and I break down our panel's forecasts—and report on how well the panel fared in 2024. www.wsj.com/economy/econ...
wsj.com
What Economists See Ahead—and How They Fared Last Year
Our survey shows economists expect slower growth and see a recession as more likely. They were pessimistic a year ago, too, and were wrong.
010
Anthony DeBarros @anthonydb.bsky.social · 13/04/2025
Since President Trump took office, economists have slashed estimates for growth while raising them for inflation and unemployment. www.wsj.com/economy/trad...
wsj.com
Economic Outlook Dives Just Three Months Into Trump’s Term
The probability of a recession has leapt while the growth outlook has slumped, a survey of economists has found.
062
Reposted by Anthony DeBarros
John McCormick @mccormickjohn.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
Federal spending is higher since President Trump took office even as the Department of Government Efficiency slashes contracts, cuts jobs and ends diversity programs, by @anthonydb.bsky.social / @jamesgbenedict www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
wsj.com
See How Government Spending Is Up Even as Musk Touts Savings
The Musk team’s estimated $150 billion in savings barely makes a dent in $6.8 trillion of expenditures largely on autopilot, a WSJ analysis finds.
002
Anthony DeBarros @anthonydb.bsky.social · 15/03/2025
Interesting post on Microsoft engineers' contributions to PostgreSQL in 2024. techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/adforpo...
techcommunity.microsoft.com
Microsoft PostgreSQL OSS engine team: reflecting on 2024 | Microsoft Community Hub
In  "Microsoft PostgreSQL OSS engine team: reflecting on 2024", the first part of a two part blog post, you will learn about who the Microsoft...
020
Anthony DeBarros @anthonydb.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
Yep, that's me.
100
Reposted by Anthony DeBarros
John West @johnwest.bsky.social · 22/02/2025
My colleagues, @ceostroff.bsky.social, Shane Shifflett, and James Benedict have a fantastic look at DOGE's savings claims: "A WSJ analysis of government data found that many claims of savings were overstated and ‘woke’ cuts were only a tiny fraction of the total." www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
While DOGE hasn’t offered details about all of the stated savings, it has posted a list of more than 1,100 canceled contracts to its website. As of Friday, it said the savings from these contracts amounted to about $7 billion. 

The Journal analysis projects the actual savings could be closer to $2.6 billion over the next year if spending levels remained constant—and about 2% of the funds would have gone to contracts related to DEI.

Research-focused agencies were among the top targets for cuts, including the Education Department and the Department of Health and Human Services, where DOGE terminated contracts costing the government more than $900 million last year.

DOGE terminated more than 60 Health and Human Services contracts including a clinical evaluation of an Alzheimer’s and traumatic brain injury drug and a study of smokers with chronic lung disease. DOGE described these as “administrative expenses.”
0248
Anthony DeBarros @anthonydb.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
Important note for new readers of Practical SQL! Today's release of pgAdmin v9.0 introduces a "Workspace" layout that's enabled by default. I've written instrux on how to set the layout back to "Classic," which matches the book and is, IMO, better. github.com/anthonydb/pr...
010
Reposted by Anthony DeBarros
The Wall Street Journal @wsj.com · 06/02/2025
A staffer for Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency whose access to U.S. Treasury payment systems was approved by a federal judge has links to a deleted social-media account that advocated for racism and eugenics
wsj.com
DOGE Staffer Resigns Over Racist Posts
A staffer for Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency whose access to U.S. Treasury payment systems was approved by a federal judge on Thursday has links to a deleted social-media account…
89439202
Anthony DeBarros @anthonydb.bsky.social · 20/01/2025
This one, indeed, does go up to 11. How economic and other national indicators—and a couple pop-culture touchstones—changed from Trump's first inauguration till now. www.wsj.com/economy/trum...
wsj.com
How Trump’s New America Compares With 2017, in 11 Charts
Economic and pop-culture indicators trace the country’s path as President-elect Donald Trump returns to Washington for his second term.
010
Anthony DeBarros @anthonydb.bsky.social · 19/01/2025
In our latest WSJ survey of economists, the panel forecasts higher inflation and interest rates ahead of Trump's return. www.wsj.com/economy/econ...
wsj.com
Trump’s Return Nudges Economists’ Inflation Outlook Higher
Survey finds tariffs, tax cuts and immigration policy could weigh on price outlook for next two years.
011
Anthony DeBarros @anthonydb.bsky.social · 15/01/2025
A month till baseball. Let's go. www.mlb.com/news/spring-...
mlb.com
2025 Spring Training first workout dates announced
Following are the first workout dates, subject to change, both for pitchers and catchers and full squads of the 30 Major League clubs for 2025 Spring Training.
000
Anthony DeBarros @anthonydb.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
I'm always humbled and grateful when this happens, which it has done a couple times (often coinciding with the start of college semesters). Thank you to all my readers! practicalsql.com
Screengrab of the Amazon.com website's "Best Sellers in SQL" page, showing "Practical SQL" by Anthony DeBarros in the No. 1 position.
010
Anthony DeBarros @anthonydb.bsky.social · 12/01/2025
h/t @mikestucka.bsky.social : www.twincities.com/2025/01/11/i...
twincities.com
‘I wanted to do something cool’: Meet the man who made the Minnesota-shaped forest
Only a few pilots noticed at first until Google Earth launched in 2001 and a satellite photo of the state-shaped forest went viral.
010
Anthony DeBarros @anthonydb.bsky.social · 06/01/2025
More than 1.6 million unemployed workers have been job hunting for at least six months—a number that has ballooned by more than 50% in the past two years www.wsj.com/economy/jobs...
wsj.com
Unemployed Office Workers Are Having a Harder Time Finding New Jobs
More than 1.6 million unemployed workers have been job hunting for at least six months
012
Reposted by Anthony DeBarros
The Wall Street Journal @wsj.com · 02/01/2025
Throughout the past year, The Wall Street Journal investigated how giant insurers extracted billions in extra payments from the Medicare Advantage system.
wsj.com
How Health Insurers Racked Up Billions in Extra Payments From Medicare Advantage
The Wall Street Journal’s yearlong investigation into Medicare’s private insurers relied on exclusive access to billions of records of Medicare services.
56730
Anthony DeBarros @anthonydb.bsky.social · 30/12/2024
Of all the Nieman Lab predictions for journalism in 2025, this one by @mattwaite.bsky.social resonates most. I would gladly pay for an app that helped me save $15 a week in groceries. www.niemanlab.org/2024/12/the-...
niemanlab.org
The year we put everything on the table
"What's the point of the exercise here? Is it to inform people, or to show off what we know and how sophisticated we sound?"
120
Anthony DeBarros @anthonydb.bsky.social · 28/12/2024
Re-upping this in case you missed it.
001
Anthony DeBarros @anthonydb.bsky.social · 26/12/2024
To support students, career-switchers and others who want to add SQL to their data analysis skillsets in 2025, I'm providing three free copies of my book, "Practical SQL." To enter a drawing for one of the free copies, please provide all the information below! forms.gle/ge4ySHjHZbZp...
174
Reposted by Anthony DeBarros
Nick Timiraos @nicktimiraos.bsky.social · 20/12/2024
I see a bunch of people arguing that inflation was transitory, and I don't know of a single person who in 2021 argued that 2.8% core PCE inflation at the end of 2024 would meet any definition of transitory.
2211219
Anthony DeBarros @anthonydb.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
The Census Bureau estimates that the U.S. population grew by 8.5 million over the past four years, with immigrants making up the vast majority. www.wsj.com/us-news/immi...
wsj.com
Immigrants Dominate U.S. Population Growth
The Census Bureau estimates that the U.S. population grew by 8.5 million over the past four years, with immigrants making up the vast majority.
000
Anthony DeBarros @anthonydb.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
The "Secret Squirrel" T-shirt seems kinda stylish! www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
wsj.com
The Top Secret Gift Shop Where You Need Clearance to Get In
Federal buildings house a network of stores most people will never see; CIA barbecue sauce
110
Anthony DeBarros @anthonydb.bsky.social · 15/12/2024
Amid high-pressure competition, some Wall Street bankers use Adderall and Vyvanse as tools to plow through long hours of tedious work. www.wsj.com/finance/bank...
wsj.com
The Drugs Young Bankers Use to Get Through the Day—and Night
Many on Wall Street see Adderall and Vyvanse as tools to plow through long hours of tedious work amid high-pressure competition.
000
Anthony DeBarros @anthonydb.bsky.social · 13/12/2024
Today's must-read: Evan Gershkovich's first story in the @wsj.com since his release. www.wsj.com/world/russia...
wsj.com
Tracking Putin’s Most Feared Secret Agency—From Inside a Russian Prison and Beyond
The spy unit that arrested a Wall Street Journal reporter is leading the biggest campaign of internal repression since the Stalin era.
022
Reposted by Anthony DeBarros
Ben Fritz @benfritz.bsky.social · 13/12/2024
Amazon is donating $1 million to Trump's inaugural fund, just like Meta. And Google CEO Sundar Pichai is meeting with Trump this evening. www.wsj.com/politics/ele...
wsj.com
Exclusive | Jeff Bezos’ Amazon Plans to Donate $1 Million to Trump’s Inauguration
Tech leaders are striving to shore up ties with the incoming administration.
002
Reposted by Anthony DeBarros
Toula Vlahou @toulavlahouwsj.bsky.social · 13/12/2024
The Trump transition team has started to explore pathways to dramatically shrink, consolidate or even eliminate the top bank watchdogs in Washington. www.wsj.com/finance/regu...
wsj.com
Exclusive | Trump Advisers Seek to Shrink or Eliminate Bank Regulators
The advisers have asked potential nominees whether Trump could abolish the FDIC.
011
Reposted by Anthony DeBarros
Dustin Volz @dustinvolz.bsky.social · 13/12/2024
Bluesky is bumping tonight with several great WSJ scoops, including: - Amazon donating $1 mil to Trump inaugural fund - Trump plans to downsize or kill FDIC - Xi Jinping declines Trump invite to attend inauguration Great to be on a platform receptive to sharing links to trusted news.
1333955
Anthony DeBarros @anthonydb.bsky.social · 11/12/2024
ROLLUP and CUBE are now on my PostgreSQL learning to-do list. www.crunchydata.com/blog/easy-to...
crunchydata.com
Easy Totals and Subtotals in Postgres with Rollup and Cube | Crunchy Data Blog
Learn about easy subtotals with the GROUP BY ROLLUP and CUBE to get totals and subtotals across categories and date bins.
020
Anthony DeBarros @anthonydb.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
Fascinating look into the environmental impacts of dying satellites (and I did not realize the number per year). www.technologyreview.com/2024/12/09/1...
technologyreview.com
The world’s next big environmental problem could come from space
To stop them from becoming space junk, satellite operators send spacecraft to burn up in the atmosphere at mission’s end. The environmental impacts are still uncertain.
010
Anthony DeBarros @anthonydb.bsky.social · 08/12/2024
Fascinating profile of Brian Krebs and his interactions with hackers. www.wsj.com/tech/cyberse...
wsj.com
He Investigates the Internet’s Most Vicious Hackers—From a Secret Location
In the increasingly dangerous world of cybercrime, Brian Krebs faces threats, manipulation and the odd chess challenge.
000