I have a question about the usage of "***trace through***" [here](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1992/03/25/when-the-fewest-earn-the-most-its-time-to-put-money-in-its-place/70d48f98-69b2-4271-a98d-1aebd0184a4e/): 

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> The idea that the famous trade-off between flat-tax efficiency and progressive-tax equity may not exist after all will be big news to fairness-minded Democrats! It will take many years to ***trace through*** the workings of these winner-take-all markets, to judge their significance in the economy over all.
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But I couldn't find a dictionary definition that fit this usage of "***trace through***". Could it be an error? Would replacing "*to* ***trace through*** *the workings of*" with "*to* ***trace*** *the workings of*" be better?