One model for UBI I think sounded interesting was that you hand out money that devalues periodically. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demurrage_(currency) It is dated from the time it changes hands and if it doesn't change hands withing x amount of time, it devalues by some percentage. The idea is to incentivize people to invest locally. Let's say you and your 5 buddies all have regular jobs and now UBI becomes a thing. You could pool together and have 6k per month to invest in a business. If these businesses turn out to be on the whole profitable, this is one way that the money you throw into UBI could flow back.

Another argument is that you lose the entire bureaucratic apparatus behind welfare which accounts for a significant percentage of the cost of welfare and that money is no longer completely wasted.

It's all going to be speculative until some country pulls the trigger and actually tries it.


On a side note I don't even think food stamps should be a thing. It should be straight up cash. I don't think the idea of shaming people into getting back to work is going to be super effective (I'm willing to change my mind if there are studies.)
Going on welfare shouldn't mean you're not allowed to have a social life until you get back on the workforce. This seems like it could have the opposite effect. Being able to go out for lunch and generally having a social life seems pretty damn beneficial to finding work in my experience.