The US Bureau of Labor Statistics has a General Practitioners earning ~3.5x the mean wages of a Plumber. Other countries may differ.

See: http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm

Plumbers make a LOT of money. Source: just knowing plumbers.

right. And its a mistake to conflate, "income" with "reported income for income tax purposes".

I know these two plumbers that make a lot of cash. They have gold coins hanging over their heads, just hanging there waiting for them to jump up into them to 'collect' them! And if you think that's weird wait until I tell you about this dinosaur/turtle kind of guy they have to fight from time to time......

In the UK the average for a plumber is about £26,000. But this includes London plumbers, and also includes plumbers with extra skills and certification for gas.

Pay for doctors is complex, because you're including FY1 and FY2 and registrars (a bunch of junior doctors) and also consultants and experienced consultants.

Here's a PDF, which appears to be undated.

(http://www.wwl.nhs.uk/library/foi/classes_of_info/whatwespen...)

what the FUCK is he talking about?

120k for a GP vs 40k for a plumber.

Sources: http://www.payscale.com/research/US/People_with_Jobs_as_Phys...

http://www1.salary.com/Plumber-I-salary.html

I really expect more intelligent comments from a man as accomplished as Thiel.

While I don't disagree that its a little bit far fetched to say the two are equal, I don't think it is as far off as you say. 3 points:

- you are comparing a GP or specialist surgeon (average age... maybe 45-50) with a 'plumber I' (average age... maybe 25).

- Plumbers do a lot of cash-in-hand work that will never be declared as 'salary'

- Pay for tradespeople can vary enormously from place to place. I have noticed living in the UK for instance that tradespeople there earn far less than they do on average in the USA or Australia.

How about lifetime income, with the plumber beginning work at age 18 and the doctor starting at age 37, paying off all student loans, with both retiring at 65?

The doctor may come out ahead by 50-55 or so, but certainly not by 37. This holds doubly true if the plumber invests anything at all. 20 years of compound interest on a small base will produce a surprisingly large amount.

An American GP is typically done with all schooling by age 30. There are specialist surgical fields where training into your mid-30's possible, but the income they command is also vastly higher, and your loans are entirely forgiven after a few more years of academic medicine at that point.