Re: "designed by clowns managed by monkeys" type comment sounds damning
It is damning. In an IEEE Spectrum article, the author states: "By substituting a larger engine [in pursuit of fuel efficiency], Boeing changed the intrinsic aerodynamic nature of the 737 airliner." The clowns knew of the problem and the MCAS hardware and software were developed as a workaround.
You can read the full article at:
https://spectrum.ieee.org/aerospace/aviation/how-the-boeing-737-max-disaster-looks-to-a-software-developer