Yes, this will do the trick. It's almost 8 months since merit system got implemented. It's already a long time and if a ranked user hadn't manage to get a single merit, this shows his/her inactivity. This will also affect account sellers who holds high ranked inactive accounts.
Goodness me, nooo....that would be counter productive i think. Not all posts get the merit warranted by the quality of the post. I think such move would in effect result in a kind of 'double jeopardy' lol. On the one hand, folks doing their level best to create quality contents but not receiving merits for or receiving a single merit per 100 post or something of the sort, to then lose that merit would be a slap in the face IMO.
Some, myself included are active. I seldom post on bounty threads but i haven't received any merits. Now if i were to lose a hard earned merit, it would be incredibly painful lol.