The stock market is a case of "where else do you go," former General Electric chairman and CEO Jack Welch told CNBC on Thursday.

"You're trapped. Every individual you know is finally saying, 'I got to get in … I missed it,'" Welch said in a "Squawk Box" interview, lamenting about U.S. stocks being the only investment choice with any shot at reasonable returns.



He also addressed Wall Street's obsession with the U.S. Federal Reserve tapering its massive quantitative easing bond-buying program. " 'Taper' is a funny word. We ought to be talking about what we're spending," he said. "They're not there as much, but they're still there."



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The latest round of QE has undergone to reductions of $10 billion each in December and January. The Fed is current pace of monthly asset purchases stands at $65 billion.

The next central bank policy meeting—a two-day affair accompanied by Janet Yellen's first news conference as Fed chair—is scheduled for next week. Following the meeting, the Fed will also release economic projections.



Investors will be looking to see whether the central bank thinks the recent economic slowdown can be attributed to more than just this year's brutal winter.



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