Originally Posted by
tdracer
I only know that the max thrust didn't change significantly on the MAX (no pun intended) - others have postulated that the positioning and size (diameter)/weight of the engine made things worse but I'm not in a position to comment. I wasn't close enough to the MAX program to know what drove the requirement for MCAS - my involvement on the MAX was basically limited to participating in some propulsion design reviews.
All that being said, my educated guess is that your comment about it being 'a good idea given previous accident history' is probably pretty close to the mark.
Seattle Times reports: (in the article "U.S. pilots flying 737 MAX weren’t told about new automatic systems change linked to Lion Air crash")
A former Boeing executive, speaking on condition of anonymity because discussion of accident investigations is supposed to be closely held, said that Boeing engineers didn’t introduce the change to the flight-control system arbitrarily.
He said it was done primarily because the much bigger engines on the MAX changed the aerodynamics of the jet and shifted the conditions under which a stall could happen. That required further stall protection be implemented to certify the jet as safe.