Redistributing Wealth

Group Question: What type of policy or involvement that the government imposes will allow the economy to grow the most? Our group came up with the hypothesis that the less the government is in involved in the economy and its private sector, the more it will grow.

                                            

Freemarketeconomy.net

Why I am interested in this topic:
I believe that redistributing wealth by taxing the rich will not close the gap between the countries' upper and lower classes. I am interested in how the government regulates the economy because I believe that a free market economy would allow the economy to grow a lot more. Having a free market economy is kind of like evolution in a sense that the strongest survive and I find it interesting how those two can be compared. However, I do not have very much information on the topic, only what I hear around my house and school so I am excited to research both sides of this issue.

Questions I would like to answer
1. How big of a gap is there between the rich and the poor?
2. Would taxing the rich more help get rid of this gap?
3. How much would we need to tax the rich?
4. Is it right to tax the rich and give the money to the poor?