> that being said there is nothing to discuss about meritocracy, yet i agree with the fact that things are not that meritocratic as we want them to be. why? because there is always an asymmetry in a market, and contracts may always have some flaws (for e.g.: lemon market).

i guess that can be one issue, but my experience has been that what usually undermines "meritocracy" is basically office/org politics...