CANNES-London Mayor Boris Johnson is riding the crest of the wave known as the Olympics. Despite Mitt Romney's doubts, he told a standing-room audience on MIPIM's opening day, the Olympics were a success on many different levels and he intends to build on that momentum.

He knocked those who knock business growth and “wealth creation,” and he laid out a widespread plan to take advantage of what he termed “the astonishing scope of development” that the city is capable of producing.

He also used the podium as a sort of early campaign platform to spell out his business model, amid rumors that he might seek the prime minister-ship. The presentation was much like a campaign speech, in fact, light in detail and long on vision.

The developments he referred to were focused largely on infrastructure, and Johnson bemoaned the snail's pace of government decision-making. “It will be 2028 before we get a third runway at Heathrow Airport,” he said. “How many runways will China build in that time?”

He referenced what's called the Cross-Rail, a light-rail system destined to increase capacity by 10%, and “a new floating village at the London docks—a village on stilts,” and designed to host studios, office and retail.” In the CBD, “Cranes are once again swaying in the horizon.”

But Johnson, in laying out his business model, made six key points that could have been taken from the US post-recessionary playbook:

1) “We need to get the economy moving as fast as possible through housing investment;” 2) “We need to keep up the pace of infrastructure investment;” 3) “We need to stop bashing our strong industries, such as financial services;” 4) “We need to build up new sectors, such as academic healthcare and make tax rates low, stable and predictable;” 5) “We need to stop knocking wealth creation; it isn't a policy for growth;”

Finally he said, government needs to instill a spirit of confidence in business.