Explain why it is more difficult to measure wealth inequality within countries than between different countries.

What will be an ideal response?

It is much more difficult to get a good picture of how equal or unequal income is within countries than it is between countries. To accurately measure equality, researchers must complete a sample of household surveys in each country. While that would be easy—though expensive—in the United States, it would be extremely difficult to conduct a household survey in war-torn Afghanistan or Syria. Thus, our understanding of how equally wealth is distributed within countries is just an estimate. What we can conclude is that there is a great deal of difference between the rich and poor in many countries, as well as between countries, and that those differences have important consequences for world politics.