1. Higher wages would lead to more expensive (and therefore lower) exports, and to higher consumption, leading to higher imports. The government can cause wages to rise by raising the minimum wage, raising the salary of its employees, and hiring more government workers (e.g. for infrastructure projects).

2. The assumption that Germany's high saving is good for Germany is debatable. If Germans save more than they consume, some other nation must consume more than they save. Germany has been, and might be again in the future, forced to bail out those countries.

3. I can also recommend the Khan Academy lectures on economics.