Sorry for making unclear references. My question was referring to "it is [lift], not thrust, that creates the problem MCAS was intended to fix", which I never a

Sorry for making unclear references. My question was referring to "it is [lift], not thrust, that creates the problem MCAS was intended to fix", which I never addressed before. The article you linked has some nice cross-sectional illustrations that makes clear that the thrust line of the MAX engine actually is higher than on the NG. I hadn't realized this but it makes sense given their larger diameter and needed ground clearance. That would indicate that the thrust dependent pitch up is likely smaller on the MAX than the NG so, if the MAX behaves worse, it stands to reason that the aerodynamic effect must dominate. I guess the issue is that lift overall is just so much larger that a small shift in the center of lift has a large effect on pitch moment? As for your comment about longitudinal stability, I agree that the pitch moment due to thrust is independent of AoA and hence can't change the shape of the pitch moment curve. I gotta think about this some more.