shd there be fiscal reward for excellence? how much?

Question

there is a range of IQ brains excellence gifts talents - is rewarding excellence as odd as rewarding longer leaves on trees? ppl range in their maximum speed of running - so what? ppl range in their desire to train as swimmers - so what?
assuming for the moment [what i dont believe] that there shd be reward for excellence:
how much? who to judge measure quantify define? the market is no judge, bc it pays [sometimes billions]for things like scarcity that have nothing to do with excellence workhardness risk responsibility talent skill experience brains qualifications
billgates is being rewarded for excellence? how do we know he is excellent? no one can measure define judge uncontroversially excellence - we just assume he is excellent bc he gets paid much [circ. arg.] - one wd hav to be a master of excellence to judge excellence, & the nonmasters wd differ from yr opinion anyway
& when u hav quantified excellence, how do u set the reward per unit of excell.?
exc. is its own reward?

Answer 1

You're obviously not going to get a prize.

Answer 2

Simple economics would tell you that we reward productivity of labor and capital. Productivity is how much someone can produce. Peoples "economic value" is directly related to the value of their production (both labor production and production of their capital).

Fast runners win races. Quick thinkers win in games. Producers win in economics. Broader leaves make a better shade tree.

Scarcity is worth paying: If there was only 2 engineers in the world capable of solving a difficult problem, wouldn't you pay them more to work on your problem when they could be solving thousands of equaly challenging problems. If the solution was worth millions in increased grain production, wouldn't it be fair to split that with the engineer?

The market is a perfect predictor, but it is very clear about what it is rewarding. Bill Gates repeatedly made significant advances in software, making it more accessable to the public and widely compatable. Bill Gates now owns the company and is largely paid for the work done by the capital he owns.

Reversing the question: Who should be rewarded for my productivity if I'm not being rewarded?