I see your logic iggy and i don't discount it one bit....If money were not an object, i would never ever use a UV filter.
Personally - the ONLY reason I have a UV filter on the lens is to protect it so that it has a higher resale value.

Lens hoods are good but they can be a pain in the butt to put on and take off and they still leave the glass on the lens vulnerable to accidental scratches etc.

Personally - I often REMOVE the UV filter when i use the polarizing filter due to vignetting issues on ANY lens, not just wide angle.

I should say that I have not done tests to see if there is any noticeable loss in quality with/without UV lens, but the tests I have read suggest that the quality is negligible with a good UV filter. The UV filters I use are either Nikon or BW and they are closer to 70-80 dollars each.