An aerodynamically sound redesign to accommodate the high bypass engines would have been just as fuel efficient as the version with confusing software band-aids

An aerodynamically sound redesign to accommodate the high bypass engines would have been just as fuel efficient as the version with confusing software band-aids. If it is cheaper to invent something like MCAS than to properly adapt the airframe, then maybe the processes that would be used for the latter are ripe for some efficiency optimization.