After the Lion Air crash I posted that the B737 Max has undesirable flight characteristics and Boeing weren’t keen to advertise this to potential buyers or certification authorities. The MCAS is a quick and cheap patch job to avoid a complete redesign of the flight control system or a new stall avoidance system which may have required a new type certificate.
Boeing need to realise the limitations of the basic airframe and should have stopped with the 800 series. A complete new 21st century design is required which incorporates all modern safety features and allows for foreseeable improvements rather than bolting on ad hoc to a fuselage which has its roots in the 1950s.