Robert Donachie on September 6, 2016 by The Daily Caller News Foundation

The European Central Bank (ECB) is looking for new quick-fix monetary policy solutions since it is reportedly running out of bonds to purchase, possibly foretelling a 2008-style financial crisis.

Since last December, the ECB cut interest rates below zero, purchased $88.2 billion in bonds a month, and launched four-year-loans to banks, injecting liquidity into beleagured markets. (RELATED: European Central Bank To Hold Off Stimulus In Brexit Wake) Total bond holdings by the ECB exceed one trillion according to the most recent data.

The ECB will discuss whether or not it should expand its existing monthly bond buying program at a meeting Thursday. Problematically, the ECB is running out of bonds to buy, according the Wall Street Journal.

The United States had a similar problem in 2012.

When the Fed began its surge in bond buying in 2009, it held just $302 billion in Treasury bonds. Four years later that number jumped to $1.668 trillion, according to CNS News.

The effect of U.S. Fed intervention in the government debt market was that it artificially inflated the demand for Treasury bonds. As a result, foreign creditors and investors fled the U.S. bond market. Countries like China and Japan began shunning U.S. debt and allegedly looked elsewhere until the government attempted to curb spending.

Instead of bond-buying initiatives, some economists are now saying that the ECB should invest in equities, a move that could have large-scale implications for European stocks. While stocks are not at the top of the agenda for the ECB, the central bank failed to meet its two percent inflation target and therefore may consider equity as a viable alternative to combat inflation.

Central banks buy bonds in order to create new money. This new money increases the amount of bank reserves in the economy. Now that banks have more money to meet reserve requirements, they then lend out money to businesses. The theory is that banks take the new money, lend it out, and purchase new assets which in turn raises stock prices and lowers interest rates.

Conversely, investing in the equity market would hopefully raise stock prices and lower interest rates by giving money directly to businesses.

Stocks throughout Europe have been hit hard by the Brexit decision, Chinese volatility, and rampant uncertainty throughout the investment community.

Following Brexit, projections for European stocks show an annual 9.2 percent decline, according to Bloomberg.

If the ECB injected billions of euros into the market, it could have a bolstering effect on the prices of equity markets, the Journal reports.

European companies have a market capitalization exceeding six trillion dollars, offering the ECB a large pool of funds to reach inflation target goals.

The move to invest in equities is not without its risks, in spite of being less inflationary than bond buying. Stocks tend to be largely more volatile than bonds, reacting positively or negatively to marginal changes in the market and political regimes. When central banks decide to buy or sell, it can send shock waves throughout the investment community and signal large purchases or sell-offs.