"Local, blue collar workers" are generally completely uninformed outside of their little bubbles, much more so than the "expat bubble" you speak of.
They have a job and are making a reasonable salary? Things are great.
There may be all sorts of looming major issues for the country, but their existence is local, not looking at national debt loads, workforce statistics, and the like.
I don't think their outlooks are particularly useful other than as a measure of consumer confidence in their little area.
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"The poorer, blue collar workers will start to prosper more, but the upper-middle class will start to face difficulties."
Why? It's a serious question. Poor, blue collar workers in China (and elsewhere) are generally that because they lack useful skills to do anything higher-paying.
Are they going to suddenly develop those skills as adults?
Is China's economy going to have big increase in it's need for unskilled labor and a decline in it's need for skilled labor? (And if so, do you expect that is somehow also going to be paired with rising economic opportunity rather than a decline and return to sweatshops?)
They have a job and are making a reasonable salary? Things are great.
There may be all sorts of looming major issues for the country, but their existence is local, not looking at national debt loads, workforce statistics, and the like.
I don't think their outlooks are particularly useful other than as a measure of consumer confidence in their little area.
-----------------
"The poorer, blue collar workers will start to prosper more, but the upper-middle class will start to face difficulties."
Why? It's a serious question. Poor, blue collar workers in China (and elsewhere) are generally that because they lack useful skills to do anything higher-paying.
Are they going to suddenly develop those skills as adults?
Is China's economy going to have big increase in it's need for unskilled labor and a decline in it's need for skilled labor? (And if so, do you expect that is somehow also going to be paired with rising economic opportunity rather than a decline and return to sweatshops?)
I don't see how any of that is likely.