Final answer:
The slope of an indifference curve represents the marginal rate of substitution, not the discount rate. If Jonah Lomu's indifference curve has a slope of 1.45, this tells us how much of one good he is willing to trade for another to maintain the same level of utility, but it does not inform us about his discount rate.
Step-by-step explanation:
The slope of an indifference curve generally represents the marginal rate of substitution (MRS), which is how much of one good a consumer is willing to give up in order to get more of another good, keeping the same level of utility. However, the student's question seems to mix up indifference curves with the concept of discount rates, which are more commonly associated with time preference in finance, not utility theory in economics. Nevertheless, let's clarify the concept within the realm of microeconomics.
In microeconomics terms, the student asks what Jonah Lomu’s discount rate is, given that the slope of his indifference curve is 1.45. This question seems confused because it incorrectly seeks a discount rate from the slope of an indifference curve. In reality, the slope only tells us the MRS, not a discount rate, which relates to the time value of money rather than utility maximization. If the slope of Lomu's indifference curve is indeed 1.45, it means that he is willing to give up 1.45 units of one good to obtain one additional unit of another good, without changing his overall utility.