The Triple Helix, representing university-industry-government interactions, was rooted in a 1993 International Workshop on University-Industry Relations at UNAM's Centro Para la Innovacion Technologica in Mexico City. Impelled by Mexican reality, where university-industry interactions and the institutions themselves operated within a governmental framework, the image equally fits laissez-faire societies where the role of government in university-industry interactions can also be discerned. This article discusses the source of the Triple Helix model in a government-led response to economic downturn in early twentieth century New England which recognized universities as a key regional actor, and suggests how the model may play a role in response to the contemporary economic crisis.