infrequentflyer789, TTail,
thanks a lot for your input. Food for thought.
It would appear that, even without MCAS, there is more to automated trimming on the 737 (even pre-MAX) than meets the eye. I'm quite experienced in reading and interpreting FCOMs and related material, but sometimes this feels like deliberate obfuscation.
I have a feeling Boeing's idea that the pilot has to save the day will fall short of regulators' approval. They can no longer maintain after two accidents (where in the second one the crew almost certainly knew about the first) that any pilot "without exceptional skill" (which is the regulatory requirement, and, if you think about it, is a lot less than "average") will be able to handle it.
Bernd