system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
How well supported is this claim made by my economics textbook?

My economics textbook states this as a fact: "Income redistribution discourages productivity, thus actually aggravating poverty." As it did not really couch this as an opinion nor offer evidence, I would be interested in seeing what research or theories support or dispute this statement. Thanks!
gpt
Certainly iffy. The more sensible statement would be that redistribution could lower total output, but that doesn't necessitate an increase in poverty. Total wealth could decline while the poor still end up better off (depending on the size of the wealth transfer and the losses due to decreased incentive to work).